On July 17, 1998, at 2020 central daylight time, an Aeronca 11BC, N9156E, operated by a private pilot, sustained substantial damage during impact with wires and the terrain, five and one-half miles east of Blue Springs, Nebraska. The pilot said that he was looking at his crops at the time of the accident. The pilot received serious injuries. The personal 14 CFR Part 91 flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan was on file. The flight departed a private airport near Beatrice, Nebraska, at 2000. The pilot said that his forward visibility was limited while he was headed west into the sun. He said he did not see the wire prior to impact. The pilot did not indicate any mechanical problem with the airplane during the accident flight. A post accident examination of the wreckage did not reveal any pre-impact anomalies with the airplane. Although the airplane was originally delivered with only a lap belt, it had been retrofitted with a shoulder harness which the pilot was using, at the time of the accident.