The pilot flew to a private airstrip for a visit with fellow aviators. After about one and a half hours he decided to fly home. The aircraft took off to the north and climbed straight ahead to about 100 feet above the ground before making a steep, 180 degree, left turn and descending towards witnesses standing in front of a hangar. About 100 metres south of the witnesses the pilot commenced a left barrel roll from an estimated altitude 60 feet and an airspeed of about 85 knots. The aircraft managed to get over the top of the barrel roll but then descended rapidly. It impacted the ground in a south westerly direction with a nose-low, wings level attitude. It bounced off the ground and came to rest in about 10 metres with the engine dislodged from the airframe and the landing gear collapsed. It has been determined that the aircraft was serviceable prior to the accident. Neither the weather conditions nor the pilot's medical status contributed to the accident. Subsequent inflight checks in a Chipmunk aircraft have confirmed that a complete barrel roll cannot be achieved from an altitude of 60 feet with an entry airspeed of 85 knots. The pilot had been instructed and found competent to carry out barrel rolls at higher altitudes in his Chipmunk in 1966. He gave no prior warning that he was going to attempt to carry out a low level barrel roll.
