N8731C

On September 3, 1997, approximately 0835 mountain daylight time, a Piper PA-22 (converted to a PA-20), N8731C, was substantially damaged when it collided with terrain shortly after takeoff from Saratoga, Wyoming. The private pilot and passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the proposed personal flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight had just originated at the time of the accident.

According to the pilot, he was planning to fly from Saratoga to Sidney, Nebraska, with an eventual destination of Council Bluffs, Iowa. The pilot said he took off on runway 23, but the airplane would not climb. The airplane began descending and impacted terrain approximately 1 mile west of the airport. The pilot attributed the descent to "winds spilling over the ridge." At the time of the accident, recorded winds at Laramie, Wyoming (37 miles north-northwest of Saratoga), were from 220 degrees at 12 knots. The altimeter setting was 30.47 inches of mercury, and the temperature was 79 degrees F. Saratoga's Shively Field is situated at an elevation of 6,987 feet msl (above mean sea level). Based on this meteorological information, density altitude at Saratoga was computed to be approximately 9,113 feet msl.

The Piper Aircraft Corporation was asked to do a performance study for N8731C. Based on the airport data at Saratoga, the meteorological conditions at Rawlins, and a maximum gross weight assumption, it was calculated that the airplane could achieve a 450 feet per minute rate of climb.

The airplane was taken to Aircraft Fabrication and Repair, Guernsey, Wyoming. According to their mechanic, damage consisted of a sheared main landing gear, buckled firewall, and a twisted fuselage.