Weatherhead Peter L STOL CH 701

Full Narrative

The pilot had purchased the airplane from the previous owner on the day of the accident. Prior to the flight, the pilot obtained a wind check from an employee at a local fixed base operator. The employee informed the pilot the wind was from 320 degrees at 10 to 12 knots and gusting to 16 knots. After departure, the pilot "found the winds to be much worse and had a hard time controlling the 1,000 [pound] gross weight plane." After several attempts to land on the different runways at the airport, the pilot elected to land the airplane in a field short of runway 02 (5,003 feet long by 100 feet wide). During the approach, the pilot flared the airplane 15 to 20 feet above the ground and the airplane "just sank." The airplane landed hard and the left main landing gear separated. In addition, the nose landing gear collapsed, and the airplane nosed over and came to rest inverted. The pilot had no prior experience in the accident airplane make and model prior to this flight.