Before departing from his home base for his first operation from the particular agricultural strip, the pilot had been briefed not to land down the slope unless there was a strong headwind component favouring that direction. A normal landing was made, and the pilot was then given details of the task to be performed. He departed for an aerial inspection of the area, and on return noted that there appeared to be a headwind of about 25 knots for landing down the slope. However, on late final approach to land in this direction, the pilot realised that the wind strength had decreased to about 10 knots. He continued with the landing, but was unable to avoid over-running the end of the strip. A groundloop was initiated, during which the left gear assembly collapsed. The strip was only 340 metres in length, and had a downslope of about 6 degrees. The over-run area was about 100 metres long, with a downslope of 9 degrees. While the pilot was conducting the inspection of the area to be treated, a shower of rain made the strip surface wet and slippery. The strip appearance was deceptive from the air, and probably influenced the pilot to continue with the approach after the headwind component reduced.

During the landing roll both mainwheels entered soft areas in the strip surface. The aircraft swung through 120 degrees to the left then slid sideways for 17 metres before the right maingear collapsed. The wing struck the ground and was bent upwards. The condition of the strip surface was unsatisfactory because the first 500 metres contained soft spots. The positions of the soft spots were not marked, nor was the strip threshold displaced. The pilot had used the strip previously but on this occasion he did not check its serviceability before the flight.

The pilot had been ridge-flying not far from the glider field, along a range of hills oriented north/south. The coastline was located just west of the range of hills, and a north-westerly wind was providing good lift along the ridge. When a sea breeze developed, the wind changed to a south-easterly and the pilot was unable to maintain altitude or reach the glider field. During the subsequent outlanding the glider sustained damage when the pilot induced a ground loop to avoid striking a fence.

The pilot reported that after commencing the takeoff run, when he applied forward pressure on the control column to raise the tail, the tail rose more rapidly than normal. He was unable to correct the situation and the propeller struck the ground several times before the aircraft overturned. It was likely that the takeoff had been commenced in light tailwind conditions. The aircraft had travelled a distance of 22 metres from the start of the takeoff roll to the point where the propeller initially struck the ground. The pilot had only limited experience on the aircraft type. It was possible that he had applied excessive forward movement of the control column, or that he had moved the column too rapidly.

After establishing the aircraft on final approach the pilot reported that he increased the airspeed and deployed full airbrake to practise the actions required to correct a gross overshoot situation. A high rate of descent was established but the pilot misjudged the landing flare and the aircraft landed heavily collapsing the mainwheel and cracking the fuselage.

The aircraft had launched a glider from Tocumwal and was proceeding to Jerilderie Aerodrome to pick up another glider that had outlanded there. Enroute the tow cable was dropped at a strip and the aircraft landed to retrieve the cable which was placed in the back of the aircraft. The aircraft then departed the strip and was flown at low level towards Jerilderie. It subsequently struck two powerlines and dived into the ground, impacting 27 metres beyond the powerlines. The aircraft overturned before coming to rest 34 metres beyond the initial point of ground impact. The passenger was assisted from the wreckage by a passing motorist, however, before the pilot could be evacuated the wreckage burst into flames and further assistance was rendered impossible.

Circumstances:

The aircraft was engaged in spreading fertiliser over a cotton crop, during which it was refuelled to "almost full" with MOGAS from a bulk tank. More flights were made until, after flying for about 110 minutes, the engine lost power shortly after take-off, at a height of about 100 feet. The loss of power was accompanied by a loss of fuel pressure. Attempts to restore fuel pressure using the hand pump were unsuccessful and the aircraft was landed in a wooded area beyond the end of the strip end. The engine, landing gear and fuel drains were torn out during the landing. The pilot suspected the engine had suffered fuel starvation due to contamination found in the bulk tank, which had not been used for the previous three months. No fuel remained on board after the accident as a result of fuel drain damage. The fuel filters were later found to be free of any significant contamination.

The balloon was carrying out local sight-seeing flights. The pilot reported that he departed Trundle at about 0700 hours with four passengers. After about 30 minutes, the balloon was landed near a road where the passengers disembarked and another four persons boarded the balloon. During the second flight the pilot decided to land in a paddock when he observed an increase in the surface wind. As the balloon approached for a landing, the basket struck trees near the boundary of the paddock and two of the passengers sustained injuries. The pilot stated that during the approach he was unable to control a sudden increase in sink which he claimed was a result of wind turbulence.

The pilot stated that at about 70 feet agl on climb after take-off, the aircraft encountered turbulence. As he was applying left aileron to counter the turbulence, the engine suddenly stopped. The pilot checked the position of the fuel selector and turned the aircraft towards a cleared area. The aircraft was landed in a timbered area about 550 metres beyond the end of the strip. When the aircraft came to a stop the pilot noticed that the ignition switch was in the off position. The pilot was wearing a loose sleeved pullover during the flight and it is thought that whilst countering turbulence the cuff caught the ignition switch and pulled it to the off position.

As the pilot was manoeuvring the aircraft prior to parking, the right wing tip area struck a steel fence corner-post. The post was bent and several strands of barbed wire were broken, as the wing rode over the post. The pilot was unaware that the aircraft had struck the post, and the damage to the aircraft was not reported until the following day.