Narrative:

Reviewed all airport; weather; and NOTAM information for departure and arrival airport. Reviewed all prior maintenance discrepancies and aircraft logs and verified that all maintenance issues were addressed and properly MEL'ed. Aircraft inspection times were within limits; and aircraft was properly released by maintenance department. Reviewed load manifest for the flight and completed applicable weight and balance calculations. After walking out to the aircraft; I found my first officer finishing his normal preflight inspections. Verified with him that all preflight inspections were complete; and that he found no maintenance discrepancies on his preflight inspection. I personally did a walk around of the aircraft as well to verify that the aircraft was properly secured and that all flight surfaces were free of damage. On the takeoff roll at vr; the aircraft was very difficult to pull off the ground. Required full aft pressure on the yoke; and liftoff did not occur until approximately 20 KTS after vr. Once airborne; elevator trim selected full aft to the stop. With full aft trim; it still required both hands on the yoke with approximately 30 pounds backpressure to maintain desired pitch attitude. Flap position verified on flap selector as well as flap position indicator. All engine instruments verified normal and within limits. Normal climb checklist completed. I was able to maintain positive control of the aircraft at all times; but because it was taking much more input than normal to manipulate elevator controls; I made the decision to divert from our flight plan and return to land at our departure airport. Our landing weight was a consideration; and considered requesting a hold to burn fuel. However; after calculating our fuel burn; I determined that we would be within approximately 200 pounds of our maximum landing weight; and that it would be safe to return for landing. Contacted tower and was given clearance for a 180 degree course reversal for the runway. Because we had positive control of the aircraft; we notified tower that no additional emergency assistance was required. Completed descent and before landing checklists and landed safely with no further incident.

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Shorts 360 Captain reported pitch control problems on takeoff; they returned to their departure airport.

Narrative: Reviewed all airport; weather; and NOTAM information for departure and arrival airport. Reviewed all prior maintenance discrepancies and aircraft logs and verified that all maintenance issues were addressed and properly MEL'ed. Aircraft inspection times were within limits; and aircraft was properly released by maintenance department. Reviewed load manifest for the flight and completed applicable weight and balance calculations. After walking out to the aircraft; I found my First Officer finishing his normal preflight inspections. Verified with him that all preflight inspections were complete; and that he found no maintenance discrepancies on his preflight inspection. I personally did a walk around of the aircraft as well to verify that the aircraft was properly secured and that all flight surfaces were free of damage. On the takeoff roll at Vr; the aircraft was very difficult to pull off the ground. Required full aft pressure on the yoke; and liftoff did not occur until approximately 20 KTS after Vr. Once airborne; elevator trim selected full aft to the stop. With full aft trim; it still required both hands on the yoke with approximately 30 LBS backpressure to maintain desired pitch attitude. Flap position verified on flap selector as well as flap position indicator. All engine instruments verified normal and within limits. Normal climb checklist completed. I was able to maintain positive control of the aircraft at all times; but because it was taking much more input than normal to manipulate elevator controls; I made the decision to divert from our flight plan and return to land at our departure airport. Our landing weight was a consideration; and considered requesting a hold to burn fuel. However; after calculating our fuel burn; I determined that we would be within approximately 200 LBS of our maximum landing weight; and that it would be safe to return for landing. Contacted tower and was given clearance for a 180 degree course reversal for the runway. Because we had positive control of the aircraft; we notified tower that no additional emergency assistance was required. Completed descent and before landing checklists and landed safely with no further incident.

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.