How close did this guy come to hitting me?
December 1 2024 12:15 local, 2015z MCC McClellan in Sacramento. I'm not tech savvy with the reconstruction if someone could tell me how close we actually got that would be great, I know that the youtube videos I've seen have some great graphics and plot the ADS-B tracks of multiple planes at once overlaid with ATC audio. I wish I knew how to do that.
Me: Fairly new pilot, 160 hours TT, 90 of it in N600HF. Been working on IFR, most of my recent flying is under the hood with a CFII.
Yesterday at MCC. Arrived at the airport, waited out the fog and haze, as soon as conditions were sufficiently improving got set to depart. Several others were in the same position. Conditions at the relevant time are MVFR and improving.
I observe the traffic flow as I fuel and run up. There is a Cessna 182 that I chatted up at the FBO headed for Arizona that is the first to take off once the weather is reporting MVFR, and uses the calm wind runway 16. Several other planes arrive and depart before I take off, all using 34 as there is a 5kt wind from the north. There is a Cirrus getting in some pattern work, a Bonanza departing, a couple of charter jets coming and going, a Coast Guard airplane, and me. All using 34.
I finish my run up and see the Cirrus on downwind at the numbers, I'm in no real rush and was watching him for a couple circuits out of interest, so waited for him to touch and go before taking the runway and departing to the north.
About a minute after takeoff a Cessna announces 3 MI final ILS runway 16. I immediately sidestep right and make a position call. My (non-pilot) wife is in the plane with me, says that the foreflight screen turned red about the time I side stepped.
As I turn back to the 340 heading I see him pass under me, as he reports "I've got you in sight, passing beneath you." I'm at about 700' and he's maybe 200' below and 1/4 mile away. Way too damn close. I call out "traffic in sight" but wanted to say something a little spicier.
I never heard a radio call from him before he called 3 mile final. It's possible I missed it but I don't think so.
I finished my flight home without incident. It's been a little over a day and I'm still pissed about it. Is this worthy of a complaint to the FSDO? Is there something I could do better (obviously if I missed a radio call that would be an issue, but the guy had plenty of notice that others were using 34 as the active).
I've debriefed with a couple of buddies and my CFII, all agree that the guy is a grade A jackass, but maybe, just maybe, I'm missing something. Any criticism welcome.