N51941

On July 11, 2000, about 1945 Eastern Daylight Time, a Fairchild M-62, N51941, was substantially damaged while climbing out from a private airstrip near Grafton, Ohio. The non-certificated pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local personal flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.

According to the pilot, he was taking off to the east on a 1,813-foot long, sod runway. The airplane became airborne about 1,200 feet down the runway, at an airspeed of about 75 mph. As the airplane climbed to an altitude of about 30-40 feet above the ground, the pilot "flattened" the climb angle to gain more airspeed. The nose of the airplane then fell and the wing dropped. The airplane descended, impacted the ground, and came to rest upright.

The pilot additionally stated that the stall speed for the airplane was about 60 mph.

The pilot reported he had accumulated about 300 total hours of flight experience, with about 100 hours in make and model.

The pilot did not report any mechanical difficulties with the airplane.

The winds reported at an airport located about 11 miles to the northeast of the accident site, at 1951, were from 040 degrees at 12 knots.