Narrative:

After takeoff I had just departed the right downwind at about 45 degrees and was leveling out from climb at 2;000 ft. As I became level; the B-17 crossed in front and slightly below me; a huge; silvery apparition. The B-17 was in an extreme forward slip heading upwind; with its nose pointed at about 45 degrees to the flight direction and away from the airport. There was no time for corrective action.I was still well within the class D and on tower frequency. I heard no references to 'B-17'; only to 'north american' and 'vultee' at the time; nor were there any alerts from the tower; although I was still well within visual range. At the time; also; airport operations were being run normally; i.e. No general restrictions were in place. I heard no communication by either the tower or the B-17 crew; nor did I comment.the three main factors that I think contributed to the event seem to be:1. During my climb I had reduced forward and right-side visibility. I routinely look for traffic on a wide downwind or entering on a 45. This is the first time in 30 years of flying around that I encountered traffic upwind on the downwind leg. 2. The B-17 pilot was looking away from the airport; left wing down; so would have had limited visibility as he entered the traffic area around the airport.3. The tower controller was asleep to the situation being created by the semi-aerobatic maneuvering of a huge airplane close to the main runway and remiss in not clearly alerting us to the situation. We all know 'B-17'; but not necessarily the manufacturer of a specific airplane. Is it north american in this case? To me; the B-17 is and will always be a boeing airplane.situations like this could be avoided by:1. Clear communications.2. Either not allowing unconventional maneuvers in a busy traffic area; or allowing them and holding other traffic on the ground for the brief periods involved. We could all then also enjoy the air show.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A C182 pilot departing the pattern experienced an NMAC with a B-17 entering it from the opposite direction.

Narrative: After takeoff I had just departed the right downwind at about 45 degrees and was leveling out from climb at 2;000 FT. As I became level; the B-17 crossed in front and slightly below me; a huge; silvery apparition. The B-17 was in an extreme forward slip heading upwind; with its nose pointed at about 45 degrees to the flight direction and away from the airport. There was no time for corrective action.I was still well within the Class D and on Tower frequency. I heard no references to 'B-17'; only to 'North American' and 'Vultee' at the time; nor were there any alerts from the Tower; although I was still well within visual range. At the time; also; airport operations were being run normally; i.e. no general restrictions were in place. I heard no communication by either the Tower or the B-17 crew; nor did I comment.The three main factors that I think contributed to the event seem to be:1. During my climb I had reduced forward and right-side visibility. I routinely look for traffic on a wide downwind or entering on a 45. This is the first time in 30 years of flying around that I encountered traffic upwind on the downwind leg. 2. The B-17 pilot was looking away from the airport; left wing down; so would have had limited visibility as he entered the traffic area around the airport.3. The Tower Controller was asleep to the situation being created by the semi-aerobatic maneuvering of a huge airplane close to the main runway and remiss in not clearly alerting us to the situation. We all know 'B-17'; but not necessarily the manufacturer of a specific airplane. Is it North American in this case? To me; the B-17 is and will always be a Boeing airplane.Situations like this could be avoided by:1. Clear communications.2. Either not allowing unconventional maneuvers in a busy traffic area; or allowing them and holding other traffic on the ground for the brief periods involved. We could all then also enjoy the air show.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.