A citabria's left exhaust failed after takeoff causing smoke to come from under the instrument panel...

Attributes
ACN	847105
Time
Date	200908
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Champion Citabria Undifferentiated
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Takeoff
Flight Plan	None
Component
Aircraft Component	Exhaust Pipe
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 54 Flight Crew Total 6468 Flight Crew Type 43
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor

Narrative:

On a recurrency flight in my citabria; I had just taken off and at approximately 300 ft AGL on the upwind leg; I smelled burning and saw smoke come from the underside of the instrument panel. I climbed another 100 to 150 ft and initiated a turn to the left crosswind and got a quick emergency call. I probably only climbed to 500 to 600 ft AGL on downwind. I shut off the electrical equipment; radio and intercom. I made a quick base turn and landed. After landing; I discovered the left exhaust/muffler had failed and some burn marks on the engine bottom cowling. I probably was a little low on downwind; but I didn't take the normal climb profile on upwind and crosswind to get up to the pattern altitude. I wanted to get back on the ground as soon as possible due to a potential fire.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Citabria's left exhaust failed after takeoff causing smoke to come from under the instrument panel into the cockpit. At about 500' the pilot made an emergency return to land.

Narrative: On a recurrency flight in my Citabria; I had just taken off and at approximately 300 FT AGL on the upwind leg; I smelled burning and saw smoke come from the underside of the instrument panel. I climbed another 100 to 150 FT and initiated a turn to the left crosswind and got a quick emergency call. I probably only climbed to 500 to 600 FT AGL on downwind. I shut off the electrical equipment; radio and intercom. I made a quick base turn and landed. After landing; I discovered the left exhaust/muffler had failed and some burn marks on the engine bottom cowling. I probably was a little low on downwind; but I didn't take the normal climb profile on upwind and crosswind to get up to the pattern altitude. I wanted to get back on the ground ASAP due to a potential fire.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.

A citabria's left exhaust failed after takeoff causing smoke to come from under the instrument panel into the cockpit. At about 500' the pilot made an emergency return to land.