“***  Note:  NTSB  investigators may not have traveled in support
of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to
prepare this aircraft accident report. ***

“On June 18, 2012, at 1530 eastern daylight time, a Piper J3C-65,

N7075H, collided with trees shortly after takeoff from the McIntosh

Airport (OH59), Farmersville, Ohio. The pilot was seriously injured.

The airplane was substantially damaged. The 14 Code of Federal

Regulations Part 91 personal flight was operating in visual

meteorological conditions without a flight plan. The flight was

originating at the time of the accident and the intended destination

of Springfield, Ohio.

The pilot departed runway 27 and reported that after liftoff a gust

of wind pushed the airplane to the right side of the runway. The pilot

was able to level the airplane and continued on a heading 45 degrees

from the runway heading. Once out of ground effect, the airplane

“felt underpowered.” He stated he looked at the engine controls and

everything was normal except the tachometer was indicating 2,050 rpm.

The pilot stated he planned to make a 180 turn, but decided not to

because of the lack of altitude and wind condition. As he continued

straight ahead (45 degrees from the runway heading), he noted a line

of trees in front of him which he was not going to be able to clear.

He then made an abrupt turn toward a more heavily wooded area. He

stated he decided to contact the tree tops in a large wooded area

instead of contacting a single tree.  The pilot stated that he pulled

back on the control stick just as the airplane was encountering the

tops of the trees. The airplane impacted the tree tops and descended

to the terrain.

The pilot reported that had he maintained the runway heading, he may

have been able to land the airplane back on the runway.

A postaccident inspection of the aircraft and engine was conducted

by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspectors. There were no

mechanical failures/malfunctions identified that would have resulted

in the degraded engine power as reported by the pilot.

The closest weather reporting facility to the accident site was at

the Middletown Regional Airport (MWO) Middletown, Ohio, which was

located approximately 12 miles south-southeast of the accident site.

At 1535 the weather conditions were recorded as: wind from 230 degrees

at 15 knots gusting to 20 knots; 10 miles visibility; clear skies;

temperature 31 degrees Celsius; dewpoint 21 degrees Celsius; and

altimeter 29.94 inches of mercury. FAA guidance noted a possibility

of serious carburetor icing at glide power under those conditions.

The accident airport elevation was 914 feet. Based on the recorded

weather data, the corresponding density altitude was about 3,265 feet.