On May 20, 2001, about 1710 Alaska daylight time, a wheel-equipped Cessna 172P airplane, N98426, sustained substantial damage while taxiing for takeoff at the Lake Hood Strip, Anchorage, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) positioning flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The airplane was operated by the Civil Air Patrol Inc., Elmendorf AFB, Anchorage. The private certificated pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge on June 6, the Civil Air Patrol's safety officer reported that as the accident pilot was taxiing for departure from the Civil Air Patrol's maintenance hangar, en route to the active runway, he inadvertently entered a roadway adjacent to the active taxiway. The right wing subsequently struck a large birch tree, and sustained substantial damage.