Circumstances:
Immediately after take-off from an agricultural airstrip the aircraft suffered a loss of power and a large quantity of oil from the engine covered the windscreen obsuring the pilot's forward vision. The pilot attempted to return to the airstrip but touched down at a very slow speed in a paddock approximately 200 metres from the airstrip. During the landing roll the aircraft entered an irrigation channel and tipped up on its nose causing the engine to separate from the airframe. Fuel leaking from the severed fuel line onto the hot engine and exhaust pipe ignited, and the ensuing fire rapidly engulfed the aircraft. It was found that the number three cylinder head had separated from the cylinder barrel. This accident was not the subject of an on-scene investigation.
