N95HH

On August 1, 1993, at 1415 hours mountain daylight time, a homebuilt Murphy Renegade, N95HH, collided with the terrain and nosed over approximately five miles northwest of Guernsey, Wyoming. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed. The flight had taken off from Guernsey, and was en route to Sheridan, Wyoming.

During a telephone interview and subsequent written statement, the pilot reported that he had never before flown the airplane in a mountainous area at high altitude and high temperature. The take off was normal, however, the airplane would not climb sufficiently to clear the rising terrain. The pilot stated that he was aware of the high density altitude, but thought that the airplane would be capable of climbing and clearing the terrain as a Piper PA28-140 had taken off prior to his flight and had no difficulty. The pilot reported that the Murphy Renegade is equipped with a Teledyne Continental 95 hp, C-90 engine. The pilot also stated that performance data on the homebuilt airplane was limited.

The pilot opted to make a precautionary landing to an open area when he felt that the airplane would not clear the upcoming terrain.

The elevation at the accident site was approximately 4,900 feet. At the time of the takeoff, the pilot reported that he thought that the temperature was approximately 90 to 95 degrees. After the accident, the pilot found out that the actual temperature was 103 degrees. The altimeter setting was 30.25" Hg. The density altitude was calculated at approximately 8,500 feet.