A-1C husky pilot unfamiliar with high density altitude operations lost directional control on takeof...

Narrative:

Aircraft was at full gross weight. Began takeoff run and aircraft began veering to the left. Corrected to centerline. Stick was full forward; but tail did not come up as fast as it had been coming up at the lower density altitude where I had been checked out. Began veering to the right and had no directional control as tailwheel had already lifted off and yet the rudder was not effective either. I began braking; but started to veer off sharper and rather than ground loop I elected to stop straight ahead. In the process I ran over a runway light; which hit the aircraft on a metal pan in the middle of the fuselage. There were two minor tears in the fabric as well. We took pictures; emailed them to the factory and were told we were safe to return to the factory. Since the event; numerous husky pilots have told me that I was taught an improper procedure for taking off at a density altitude so high. (It was 9;600 feet that morning.) they recommend holding the tailwheel on the ground until reaching flying speed then transitioning to the rudder steering by pushing forward on the stick. Mechanics at the factory considered the damage minimal. There was no damage to the engine or prop. The airport official replaced the runway light with one they had in the shop and told me I did not owe them anything.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A-1C Husky pilot unfamiliar with high density altitude operations lost directional control on takeoff when the rudder did not become effective as soon as he thought it would; minor damage resulted.

Narrative: Aircraft was at full gross weight. Began takeoff run and aircraft began veering to the left. Corrected to centerline. Stick was full forward; but tail did not come up as fast as it had been coming up at the lower density altitude where I had been checked out. Began veering to the right and had no directional control as tailwheel had already lifted off and yet the rudder was not effective either. I began braking; but started to veer off sharper and rather than ground loop I elected to stop straight ahead. In the process I ran over a runway light; which hit the aircraft on a metal pan in the middle of the fuselage. There were two minor tears in the fabric as well. We took pictures; emailed them to the factory and were told we were safe to return to the factory. Since the event; numerous Husky pilots have told me that I was taught an improper procedure for taking off at a density altitude so high. (It was 9;600 feet that morning.) They recommend holding the tailwheel on the ground until reaching flying speed then transitioning to the rudder steering by pushing forward on the stick. Mechanics at the factory considered the damage minimal. There was no damage to the engine or prop. The airport official replaced the runway light with one they had in the shop and told me I did not owe them anything.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	849002
Time
Date	200908
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Christen A-1 Huskey
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Takeoff
Route In Use	Direct
Flight Plan	None
Person 1
Function	Single Pilot Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Commercial
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 38 Flight Crew Total 10308 Flight Crew Type 3
Events
Anomaly	Ground Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control Ground Event / Encounter Object

A-1C husky pilot unfamiliar with high density altitude operations lost directional control on takeoff when the rudder did not become effective as soon as he thought it would; minor damage resulted.