Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172
Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Private
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 16; Flight Crew Total 166; Flight Crew Type 97
Time Pressure; Troubleshooting; Workload
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Inflight Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control
Flight Crew Landed in Emergency Condition; General Flight Cancelled / Delayed
Aircraft
During my preflight; I did not notice anything abnormal with the flight controls. During my before start checklist; all flight controls appeared to be operating normally. On the takeoff roll; the engine instruments were looking good; and airspeed was coming up. I did notice that the plane needed a bit of nose down trim. I added nose down trim; but as I was reaching Vr; I do not know if this trimming was effective. At rotation speed; I applied some back pressure to lift the nose wheel; and the plane took off and tried to climb rapidly. I pushed the nose back down some; and put in more trim down; however at this point I noticed that it was not relieving the amount of pressure I was using to hold the nose where it needed to be.I noticed that if I relieved any of the pressure I was giving; the plane would quickly pitch up. This resulted in a series of small climbs and small descents as I was trying to add more trim down without feeling a noticeable difference in the pressure I was required to use. At this point; I had not gotten into a stabilized climb; nor gained positive control. I had enough runway remaining to land safely; so I advised ATC and brought the power to idle. Through the descent; I gained more positive control; though it was still requiring extra forward pressure to keep the nose down. The landing itself was uneventful; and so was taxiing afterwards.As far as factors affecting human performance; I had gotten a normal amount of sleep the night before; and did not feel fatigued. I had not consumed alcohol in the previous 24 hours; nor any for several months before. I had not taken any medicine; nor was I feeling ill. I was not stressed; and had not had any events affecting my emotions. The weather was VFR; winds were not high; and I saw no weather advisories over ZZZ on ForeFlight. I had also called for a weather briefing that confirmed this. My decision land immediately was based on that I was still attempting to gain positive control; and I had enough runway left to land; and I chose what I felt was the safer option compared to continuing the flight. At this point; I do not know what caused the issue; and that contributed to my decision to land as well.
Cessna 172 pilot reported a loss of pitch control during takeoff. Unable to control strong pitch up tendency to establish a stabilized climb; the pilot notified ATC of an immediate landing and completed a safe landing on remaining runway.