Narrative:

I was flying a just-purchased antique aeronca chief home for a friend. After facing significant headwinds; we needed to stop early for fuel. The weather was very cold; and light hypothermia may also have been a factor in this incident. Although I have my tailwheel endorsement; I'm still a fairly 'young' tailwheel pilot. I had been briefed before departure that this simple carburetor could choke the engine if a slug of fuel were sent to the engine by rapid application of throttle; and I was careful to clear the engine on final approach. However; because my approach was a bit fast and not perfectly aligned for the slight crosswind; I found myself in need of significant rudder input as well as dealing with porpoising; and I decided to go around. When I applied the throttle for takeoff; the engine coughed and died; making a go-around impossible. I was able to wrestle the porpoising under control and settle the zigzagging to a successful landing.with only a few knots of momentum remaining; my uncontrolled-field training kicked in and I applied rudder to head for the grass in an attempt to clear the runway. Through all of my training; the mantra 'move out of the way so that you won't get hit by the next guy' has been drilled; and that trained response was how I acted out of habit. At a controlled field; however; departing the movement area is exactly the wrong action.after a planeside discussion with the airport manager to review my actions and confirm that the engine failure was due to choking rather than a mechanical failure & that my runway excursion was due to a deliberate choice rather than a loss of control; I was allowed to exit the plane; hand-prop the engine; and continue to taxi to the FBO for fuel.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Aeronca Chief pilot reported on a go-around he applied the throttle too quickly which caused the engine to die. He was able to land the aircraft and willingly departed the runway.

Narrative: I was flying a just-purchased antique Aeronca Chief home for a friend. After facing significant headwinds; we needed to stop early for fuel. The weather was very cold; and light hypothermia may also have been a factor in this incident. Although I have my tailwheel endorsement; I'm still a fairly 'young' tailwheel pilot. I had been briefed before departure that this simple carburetor could choke the engine if a slug of fuel were sent to the engine by rapid application of throttle; and I was careful to clear the engine on final approach. However; because my approach was a bit fast and not perfectly aligned for the slight crosswind; I found myself in need of significant rudder input as well as dealing with porpoising; and I decided to go around. When I applied the throttle for takeoff; the engine coughed and died; making a go-around impossible. I was able to wrestle the porpoising under control and settle the zigzagging to a successful landing.With only a few knots of momentum remaining; my uncontrolled-field training kicked in and I applied rudder to head for the grass in an attempt to clear the runway. Through all of my training; the mantra 'move out of the way so that you won't get hit by the next guy' has been drilled; and that trained response was how I acted out of habit. At a controlled field; however; departing the movement area is exactly the wrong action.After a planeside discussion with the airport manager to review my actions and confirm that the engine failure was due to choking rather than a mechanical failure & that my runway excursion was due to a deliberate choice rather than a loss of control; I was allowed to exit the plane; hand-prop the engine; and continue to taxi to the FBO for fuel.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.