On October 22, 1993, approximately 1445 mountain daylight time (MDT), a Piper PA-12, N3568M, impacted the terrain during an attempted touch-and-go landing at Ravalli County Airport, Hamilton, Montana. The student pilot, who was the sole occupant of the aircraft, was not injured, but the aircraft sustained substantial damage. The solo instructional flight, which was being limited to pattern work, was being operated in visual meteorological conditions at the time of the accident. No flight plan had been filed, and there was no report of an ELT activation. According to his instructor, the student pilot, who was on his first solo flight, had made one full stop landing just prior to the accident. On the second time around the pattern he planned to make a touch-and-go landing, but the aircraft began "porpoising" after touchdown. During the pilot's attempts to correct for the porpoise, the aircraft departed the side of the runway and impacted a ditch.