A few hours ago, and it wasn't a NEAR miss, it was a MISS, but nearly a HIT.
As I was taxiing through the Aviat gate on the north end, I heard a Cessna pilot announce he had just started to back taxi from mid field, to take off on 34, I was all warmed up and ready to go, so I asked him if I had time, how far along the taxi he was, to take off on 16 as I was right there and cocked and loaded. He responded he would be several minutes, or word to that effect, and 10 seconds later at most I was off and climbing out. About mid field and 4-500' up, I eyeballed him still a couple hundred yards from where he would start his run up, and thought "that went good, I'd been sitting there for 5 minutes at least waiting on him," and then a yellow RV of some type went under me, directly under me with no offset. The Cessna pilot remarked on it, as did I, and I still am not sure if he was making a flyby or had just taken off. Either way, neither the Cessna pilot or myself heard anything from him, and I got no response from him either, and off he went, headed north.

If he's reading this, nah..., not going to go there, he knows he screwed the pooch, and I will for sure take some blame for somewhat being lulled into a sense of complacency after clearly communicating with the C driver and both of us not seeing or hearing anyone else in the pattern. Both of us assuming we were the only active aircraft there, and we had it all figured out. I don't recall clearly if I actually eyeballed the end of the runway for opposing traffic, my usual habit, before taking off. Probably not, wanting to get up and out way before the C guy, that's the complacent part. I'm also not sure, IF the RV was positioned for takeoff if I could have seen him, as the runway has a bit of a slope, not much but not level. The C guy and I both assumed the RV'r had a radio issue of some kind, or maybe was on the wrong freq. Turns out I was safer on the 8600' ridge landing I had made a few minutes earlier then at the paved airport. What pisses me off, is I almost always immediately offset my path off the center line after takeoff, an old habit from when I had unreliable engines (ultralights), to make a possible turn around easier, in this case that practice would have offset us instead of nosed to nosed us. Nice flight otherwise.

Staying off the centerline extended, either takeoff or landing, has improved my chances not to encounter others over the years.

Yup, and I always drift off to the right, but since I had chosen to leave the pattern by turning left, I stayed centered up, darn it. I've often had the thought, that when I do that, purposely get off the centerline, it probably looks like a screwup or sloppy flying, it ain't!

Regulations pretty much leave uncontrolled airspace alone, for good reason. They have nothing to do with what other pilots may think. We judge what might most likely keep us from getting hit or hitting something. Maneuvering airspeed has more to do with that than just slugging up with few options.

RV could have been on the wrong freq calling out all sorts of stuff. Done that myself more than once. This is a great time to point out the danger of steep climbs out of uncontrolled airports!! Climbing out at VX or VY usually means you cannot see anything in front of the plane!! So climb to with excess speed not altitude, both can be traded at the bank when a problem occurs.
DENNY

In my short and recent time flying so far I've been almost run over by a 185 taking off on a parallel runway who must have figured a heavier faster plane had the right of way and never said a word even though he was rolling out behind me and just overtook me climbing out. Never said a word a he just left the pattern.

Another pilot in a cub blew in front of me in the pattern for Big Lake missing by about 100ft so that he could buzz his friends on a lake neighboring the airport. Never entered the pattern, just dove through pattern altitude and pattern route to buzz some friends on a party boat. I called and made a position report after seeing him and advising him of his position relative to the airport pattern and he never said a word.

Must be a common thread with inconsiderate pilots to clam up or be on the wrong frequency when they're acting like idiots.

In 65 hp airplanes, it helps to be as concerned about what is behind. Lots of time to maneuver around what is up front, much less time to stay away from what is behind. Fast airplanes assume we are not conflicting traffic. Yes, bad form to not keep us in the loop. Sometimes they figure they will be beyond by the time they might report. If we were a balloon, we might register more as an obstruction. Consider the long exposure time and lack of maneuverability climbing. Forced landing is not a big problem in a light airplane. Consider if we even need to be up when zoomies are around.

Or you over in Nampa or Caldwell? It's nutty over there.

CParker wrote:Or you over in Nampa or Caldwell? It's nutty over there.

Can't even begin to tell you how many close calls I've had at Nampa. Herding cats LOL.

This hick pilot gets nervous over Nampa/Caldwell, it has to be some if not THE busiest airspace in the state. And I have not been over there for for 3-4 years, probably worse now.

Low, near, and giving way works well at uncontrolled airports. When there is a lull, we can get in quickly. Don't try to go up to get down. Exposes us to all the bad elements of being overtaken by fast airplanes.