Maule M 5-235C N9281E accident near Roxbury, Kansas

Probable cause

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during takeoff from a road, which resulted in impact with a sign.

NTSB analysis

The private pilot had landed to check on a field for his cattle and was subsequently departing from a road in his tailwheel-equipped airplane. The pilot reported that, as the tailwheel lifted off, the airplane turned to the left. The pilot said that he was slow to respond with rudder input and that his rudder application was inadequate. The airplane traveled left a few feet and the left wingtip hit a highway sign as the airplane became airborne. The pilot continued the takeoff over a tower and its guy wires, but, because he was aware of the structural damage to the airplane, he performed a precautionary landing to a field, during which the airplane impacted trees. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for CEN18LA148 for the full record.