Aeronca Champ crash Woodruff NJ, 19-Sep-2022

[newlangsyne]

http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2022/09/aeronca-7ac-champion-n2716e-fatal.html

This accident happened near my home town, so I heard about it from family. A Champ crashed just after takeoff; nothing in the early accounts really stood out except that the occupants were somewhat "plus-sized."

I read the NTSB prelim today (attached), and it got me reaching for my soap box.

...he observed the airplane depart the 1,900-foot-long turf runway with about 50 ft remaining.

In a plane with a 300-foot ground roll, why would anybody try to take off if it was still on the ground after 1800+ feet?

 

[Jim Logajan]

So one witness said it sounded "unusual" while the owner of the airport did not mention any unusual sound.
Perhaps they were expecting that takeoff would be longer than usual so accepted a much later liftoff point.

 

[newlangsyne]

That is my question. Why would a prudent pilot accept a ground roll more than six times what's normal?