As the aircraft was accelerating to the normal climbing speed after takeoff, the pilot lost elevator control. The nose continued to pitch up until the pilot closed the throttles. He then discovered that he could maintain limited pitch control by the judicious use of power. A successful gear-up forced landing was made, however, during the landing slide one wing was torn off after it struck a tree. An inspection of the elevator control system revealed that its control cable had been incorrectly engaged into the control column fork. While the locking pin was fitted correctly, it was rendered ineffective due to the incorrect fitment of the cable. Despite numerous maintenance inspections this error went undetected. Due to the location of the control column fork, the pilot would not have been expected to notice the unserviceability on his daily inspection.
