Narrative:

I changed from wheels to skis on aircraft. While I was doing the change over I had the plane plugged in to warm the engine and the oil. The change over took me 1.5 hours. When completed I then performed a preflight while he plane was still in the hangar and found the aircraft ready for flight. Also a check of the oil and cylinders found them both warm. The plane was then pulled out of the hangar and positioned for starting which was accomplished easily and the engine was run at idle for 15 minutes. Then a run up was completed no problems with mags or carb heat. The plane was ready to fly. The next step was to have my friend come aboard on the passenger side and secure for take off. I explained how I taxi on the snow and the take off procedure. I put in 10 degrees of flaps and applied power for the first run down runway 30. The snow was light and fluffy and I made a track close to the end of the runway. I knew that I would not be able to take off the first time down the runway without making a track. By the end of 30; I executed a 180 turn and taxied back on my tracks to the take off point of runway 12. Then another 180 turn for a take off following my tracks in the snow headed west. Full power was applied and the plane responded accelerating down the runway and after a short ways the tail wheel was off the ground. The plane was picking up speed and I was comfortable the take off would be successful at this time. As the plane proceeded down the runway and was getting closer to the end where lift off should have occurred the controls were light and I expected to be flying momentarily; however this did not happen. I had to make a decision at this point I could not stop the airplane. The plane was not flying and to the right of the runway was a barn full of milk cows and to the left was a substantial barb wire fence with large wooden post frozen in the ground which supported the wire. The land sloped down away from the runway and beyond the fence was another barn. I choose to maintain directional control straight ahead. The plane left the end of the runway over a bank and was in the air however it was not picking up enough speed. I lowered the nose slightly to pick up additional speed to maintain flight which did not happen. I was successful at maintaining directional control missing two large fence posts however just beyond them the left gear leg with ski hit a frozen pile of dirt breaking the ski off the spindle. The plane then turned left loosing altitude and the left gear leg began to drag on the frozen ground and through another barb wire fence. I knew flight was over and had pulled all the power off just before the plane landed on a sloping grade. An immediate check of my passenger found him not hurt and the master switch; mags and gas were shut off. The plane was positioned with the right wing high and the left wing low; exiting the plane was accomplished through the pilot's door. Once we were out and away from the plane we both did another safety check on each other finding us both unhurt. We both had cameras and took several pictures before heading to the farm house to let the owners of the farm know that I had just had an incident with an airplane in their cow pasture. The farmer was very kind and asked what he could do to help and I responded nothing right then. We then walked down the road back to the hangar where we started from and called the airport manager to report the incident and check who else should be called. The state police were then called and informed of the incident and the dispatcher informed me that the airport manager and the local police would handle the investigation. The police arrived at the hangar along with the fire department then all of us drove back down to the farm. I had taken several empty gas containers expecting to be able to drain down the upper wing tank that was leaking out a little gas through the vent pipe. The police stopped me and said I could not touch the plane until it was released back to me from the FAA. I received a call from the FAA and was asked questions about the damage to the plane and asked if the passenger or myself sustained any injuries which we had not. I also inform him that there no property damage. The lieutenant from the fire department asked me how much gas had leaked out and I responded about 1 to 1.5 gallons. I had also asked the fire lieutenant if I could disconnect the battery which did not happen until the FAA had informed the police that he was returning the aircraft back to me. Once returned I disconnected battery then set a container under the plane to drain down the right wing tank. While draining down the tank a state department of environmental services inspector walked down and asked how I was containing the spilled gas. I responded that the fire department had placed absorbent pads under the plane which collected the leaking gas. The inspector provided me with more pads which I used to place over the other pads. The inspector informed me to shovel the contaminated snow up into something to contain it and that a licensed company would have to pick the snow up for proper disposal. I used a trash can lined with a heavy plastic liner to accomplish the inspector's request. The contaminated snow is presently at the hangar. The site was left for the night and a visit with the land owner set a time for the following day to move the plane back to the hangar. A few days later; I inspected the site for any additional contamination and found none; the farmer drove a 4x4 tractor to the site and we used the bucket with a strap sling to pick up the damaged gear leg and removed the broken ski hub from the spindle then installed a wheel. The gear leg was lowered and I installed a long sling around both landing gears connecting the end to the back of the tractor. We slowly pulled the plane ahead which worked nicely to move the plane back to the hangar. The sling was removed and the plane was pushed back inside.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A C170B failed to develop flying speed during takeoff on snow skis; departed the runway end and impacted the ground damaging the landing gear.

Narrative: I changed from wheels to skis on aircraft. While I was doing the change over I had the plane plugged in to warm the engine and the oil. The change over took me 1.5 hours. When completed I then performed a preflight while he plane was still in the hangar and found the aircraft ready for flight. Also a check of the oil and cylinders found them both warm. The plane was then pulled out of the hangar and positioned for starting which was accomplished easily and the engine was run at idle for 15 minutes. Then a run up was completed no problems with mags or carb heat. The plane was ready to fly. The next step was to have my friend come aboard on the passenger side and secure for take off. I explained how I taxi on the snow and the take off procedure. I put in 10 degrees of flaps and applied power for the first run down Runway 30. The snow was light and fluffy and I made a track close to the end of the runway. I knew that I would not be able to take off the first time down the runway without making a track. By the end of 30; I executed a 180 turn and taxied back on my tracks to the take off point of Runway 12. Then another 180 turn for a take off following my tracks in the snow headed west. Full power was applied and the plane responded accelerating down the runway and after a short ways the tail wheel was off the ground. The plane was picking up speed and I was comfortable the take off would be successful at this time. As the plane proceeded down the runway and was getting closer to the end where lift off should have occurred the controls were light and I expected to be flying momentarily; however this did not happen. I had to make a decision at this point I could not stop the airplane. The plane was not flying and to the right of the runway was a barn full of milk cows and to the left was a substantial barb wire fence with large wooden post frozen in the ground which supported the wire. The land sloped down away from the runway and beyond the fence was another barn. I choose to maintain directional control straight ahead. The plane left the end of the runway over a bank and was in the air however it was not picking up enough speed. I lowered the nose slightly to pick up additional speed to maintain flight which did not happen. I was successful at maintaining directional control missing two large fence posts however just beyond them the left gear leg with ski hit a frozen pile of dirt breaking the ski off the spindle. The plane then turned left loosing altitude and the left gear leg began to drag on the frozen ground and through another barb wire fence. I knew flight was over and had pulled all the power off just before the plane landed on a sloping grade. An immediate check of my passenger found him not hurt and the master switch; mags and gas were shut off. The plane was positioned with the right wing high and the left wing low; exiting the plane was accomplished through the pilot's door. Once we were out and away from the plane we both did another safety check on each other finding us both unhurt. We both had cameras and took several pictures before heading to the farm house to let the owners of the farm know that I had just had an incident with an airplane in their cow pasture. The farmer was very kind and asked what he could do to help and I responded nothing right then. We then walked down the road back to the hangar where we started from and called the airport manager to report the incident and check who else should be called. The State Police were then called and informed of the incident and the Dispatcher informed me that the Airport Manager and the local police would handle the investigation. The Police arrived at the hangar along with the Fire Department then all of us drove back down to the farm. I had taken several empty gas containers expecting to be able to drain down the upper wing tank that was leaking out a little gas through the vent pipe. The police stopped me and said I could not touch the plane until it was released back to me from the FAA. I received a call from the FAA and was asked questions about the damage to the plane and asked if the passenger or myself sustained any injuries which we had not. I also inform him that there no property damage. The Lieutenant from the Fire Department asked me how much gas had leaked out and I responded about 1 to 1.5 gallons. I had also asked the Fire Lieutenant if I could disconnect the battery which did not happen until the FAA had informed the Police that he was returning the aircraft back to me. Once returned I disconnected battery then set a container under the plane to drain down the right wing tank. While draining down the tank a state Department of Environmental Services Inspector walked down and asked how I was containing the spilled gas. I responded that the Fire Department had placed absorbent pads under the plane which collected the leaking gas. The Inspector provided me with more pads which I used to place over the other pads. The Inspector informed me to shovel the contaminated snow up into something to contain it and that a licensed company would have to pick the snow up for proper disposal. I used a trash can lined with a heavy plastic liner to accomplish the Inspector's request. The contaminated snow is presently at the hangar. The site was left for the night and a visit with the land owner set a time for the following day to move the plane back to the hangar. A few days later; I inspected the site for any additional contamination and found none; the farmer drove a 4X4 tractor to the site and we used the bucket with a strap sling to pick up the damaged gear leg and removed the broken ski hub from the spindle then installed a wheel. The gear leg was lowered and I installed a long sling around both landing gears connecting the end to the back of the tractor. We slowly pulled the plane ahead which worked nicely to move the plane back to the hangar. The sling was removed and the plane was pushed back inside.

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.