Incident Details
On 13 July 2002 at approximately 1640 UTC, a Cessna 172M (registration G-BHCC) was departing from Runway 32 at Goodwood Airfield, West Sussex, for a cross-country flight to Gloucestershire Airport. The pilot, who held a Private Pilot's Licence and had 108 flying hours total (12 on type), completed pre-takeoff checks and lined up on the grass runway. There were no centreline markings, and the pilot noticed the aircraft was positioned two to three metres left of centre before starting the takeoff roll. Believing he could correct the misalignment during the ground roll, he commenced the takeoff.
As the aircraft accelerated, it continued to track left despite the pilot applying right rudder pedal. At an airspeed of 45 to 50 knots, the pilot considered that he had sufficient room to become airborne clear of the edge marker boards. When the speed reached 55 knots, he rotated the aircraft. As it lifted off, he heard and felt a bump, which he attributed to a wheel striking a marker board. The pilot proceeded with the flight to Gloucestershire and landed without noting any issues.
Examination Findings
A subsequent examination of the aircraft revealed that the impact with the marker board had damaged the fin rudder post assembly. This caused the rudder to jam with between two and five degrees of left rudder applied. The rudder pedals could move a small amount, but the rudder itself was immovable.
Pilot Comments
The pilot reported that he was less familiar with the Cessna 172M than the Piper PA28 on which he originally trained and did not appreciate the amount of rudder input required to correct a left yaw during takeoff. He also noted that he should have abandoned the takeoff when he realised the aircraft was not correcting its direction.