Whilst out taxing I did a tight turn to the left and in applying full rudder, the tension on the rudder horn pulling slightly down from the chain to the tail wheel dropped it just below the rudder stop. This quickly flexed and bent the horn forward. This in no way affected the ground handling as at my slow taxi speeds the turning was handled by the tailwheel which still operated fine so I was completely unaware.
A few minutes later I decided to do a higher speed taxi test and sure enough found myself airborne. I had always planned that if I found myself accidently flying then I would land straight ahead if there was enough runway in front of me and safe to do so but otherwise keep flying.
Once airborne I drifted to the right so added a little power and left rudder but the nose yawed to the right due to the prop wash on the right side of the vertical stabiliser. Full left rudder did nothing so I was in a left slip. I didn't know why at the time but I was aware that my stall speed was going to be higher so added power to increase my speed and then entered a very gently climbing turn. I did a 180 and pulling the throttle back just prior to touchdown which stopped the yawing affect to the right and landed straight back on the runway I had taken off from.
I was still confused while taxiing back as everything seemed fine on the ground, that was until I got out and walked around the back to take a look.
The fix was to fashion a piece of .125" 6061T6 to the shape of the horn, etch prime the underside and then solid rivet it the original horn. There is now zero flex in it and is working a treat.
You may be able to fly these without a license in the USA but the flight training I have received definitely contributed to my coping with this adverse situation. I had 70 hours in my log book at the time.
Do yourself, your family and friends a favour…please be trained before taking to the skies.
