A C182 pilot reported taking evasive action to an apparent rv-3 conducting aerobatic maneuvers near ...

Narrative:

Just before sunset; my wife and I encountered either a small manned-aircraft or a large unmanned aircraft performing aerobatic maneuvers near bgf. We were flying [a] direct GPS route. We were no more than 7 NM from the airport and about 2;200 ft MSL; when I spotted an aircraft at my altitude; moving very fast; and almost parallel to my line-of-flight. Suddenly; the aircraft pulled up and performed what appeared to be a loop and returned to an altitude slightly above mine. I diverted northeast; making a radio call on 122.8 to alert the pilot of our proximity. No reply. Even though I was now flying a northeasterly diversionary course; the aircraft again appeared in my field of view; slightly (no more than 200 ft I would estimate) above me and appeared to cross my line of flight (I have a high winged aircraft; so I lost the view). My pcas (personal collision avoidance system) did not show any traffic; so this aircraft either had no transponder or it was not turned on. The severity of the maneuvers we observed made me and my wife think this must be an unmanned aircraft. I proceeded to bgf; crossed mid-field at pattern altitude; and did a 180- degree turn east of the field. I was planning to enter a left downwind for runway 36 and then I saw the aircraft again in downwind airspace (I did not see any aerobatic maneuvers here). At this point in time; I felt very apprehensive about this situation; and decided to go back to my home airport without landing at bgf. The time of this incident was dusk; I saw no identifying marks on the aircraft. Nor; can I say for sure what color it was. However; I am certain it was a low-wing design; had a single white strobe; and I am 90 percent sure there were red and green wing marker lights. There was no radio traffic in the [pattern at] winchester except for my routine VFR traffic announcements and my extra calls to the maneuvering aircraft.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A C182 pilot reported taking evasive action to an apparent RV-3 conducting aerobatic maneuvers near BGF and so left the area abandoning a planned landing at that airport.

Narrative: Just before sunset; my wife and I encountered either a small manned-aircraft or a large unmanned aircraft performing aerobatic maneuvers near BGF. We were flying [a] direct GPS route. We were no more than 7 NM from the airport and about 2;200 FT MSL; when I spotted an aircraft at my altitude; moving very fast; and almost parallel to my line-of-flight. Suddenly; the aircraft pulled up and performed what appeared to be a loop and returned to an altitude slightly above mine. I diverted northeast; making a radio call on 122.8 to alert the pilot of our proximity. No reply. Even though I was now flying a northeasterly diversionary course; the aircraft again appeared in my field of view; slightly (no more than 200 FT I would estimate) above me and appeared to cross my line of flight (I have a high winged aircraft; so I lost the view). My PCAS (Personal Collision Avoidance System) did not show any traffic; so this aircraft either had no transponder or it was not turned on. The severity of the maneuvers we observed made me and my wife think this must be an unmanned aircraft. I proceeded to BGF; crossed mid-field at pattern altitude; and did a 180- degree turn east of the field. I was planning to enter a left downwind for Runway 36 and then I saw the aircraft again in downwind airspace (I did not see any aerobatic maneuvers here). At this point in time; I felt very apprehensive about this situation; and decided to go back to my home airport without landing at BGF. The time of this incident was dusk; I saw no identifying marks on the aircraft. Nor; can I say for sure what color it was. However; I am certain it was a low-wing design; had a single white strobe; and I am 90 percent sure there were red and green wing marker lights. There was no radio traffic in the [pattern at] Winchester except for my routine VFR traffic announcements and my extra calls to the maneuvering aircraft.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.

Attributes
ACN	1167073
Time
Date	201404
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	BGF.Airport
State Reference	TN
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Dusk
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Skylane 182/RG Turbo Skylane/RG
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Descent
Route In Use	Direct
Flight Plan	None
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	RV-3
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	None
Person 1
Function	Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Private Flight Crew Instrument
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 5 Flight Crew Total 650 Flight Crew Type 375
Events
Anomaly	Conflict NMAC Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter Other / Unknown
Miss Distance	Horizontal 0 Vertical 200

A C182 pilot reported taking evasive action to an apparent rv-3 conducting aerobatic maneuvers near bgf and so left the area abandoning a planned landing at that airport.