Narrative:

I fly a high performance aerobatic aircraft out of an uncontrolled field that has a typical mix of general aviation aircraft using it. It is difficult to slow it down to cessna 172/182 kinds of speeds in the pattern; because it forces me to have a very high deck angle to maintain altitude and this eliminates forward visibility. Further; if I fly too far from the runway (many GA pilots fly very large patterns); I will never make the runway in the event of an engine failure and an off-airport landing in this aircraft is very dangerous. As a result; my general procedure is to announce 3 miles out; then cross midfield and ascertain the location of other potential traffic in the pattern. When there is none; I fly a tight downwind; base; and final to touchdown. When there is traffic in the pattern; I orbit over the runway at pattern altitude until I can establish where I will be in the sequence for landing. At all times; I make multiple radio calls on the CTAF frequency to alert other pilots to my location and intentions.[recently]; I was arriving into the airport area from the southwest. I called three miles out and said I would be crossing midfield. It was already apparent to me that there were several aircraft in the pattern; but I was too far away to determine exactly who was where. As I crossed midfield; I made my standard mid-field radio call; and I could see that there was an aircraft on final and one on base for runway 15; so I radioed that I would be orbiting overhead and would be number 3 for runway 15. As aircraft number 1 landed and exited the runway; I saw another aircraft turn base for 15; effectively taking my slot. Since I was in no particular hurry; I decided to let that go and I continued to orbit and again radioed that I would be number 3 for runway 15 behind the aircraft turning base. After the next aircraft landed; I radioed that the maintenance would now be number 2 for 15. Immediately after that radio call; another aircraft entered the left downwind for 15 and radioed that he would be number 2 for 15. I responded by telling him that the maintenance was orbiting overhead the runway and would be number 2 for 15; and he would be number 3. I received no other radio transmissions from him. When it was clear that the aircraft on final (number 1) would be down and out of my way; I entered a left downwind for 15 and then turned a tight base. At that time I saw another aircraft turning a distant base to final for 15; and I radioed that I would be down and out of his way no factor for him. That aircraft landed behind me without incident after I had exited the runway and it immediately took off again (I believe it was a touch and go; or perhaps a stop and go). After I taxied in and shut down my aircraft; another pilot taxied nearby; stepped out of his aircraft and told me that I had cut him off in the pattern. I was not aware of having cut anybody off and I exercised extra vigilance due to the amount of traffic that day. I think the root of this problem; other than the mix of different performance levels of aircraft; is the perception and belief on the part of some GA pilots that unless you're in the standard traffic pattern at very slow speed (like 80 kts); you simply cannot be allowed to land. The vast majority of the time the pilots I interact with are very cooperative and everything works fine. On rare occasion; however; there is a pilot who simply refuses to cooperate with a pilot who doesn't conform exactly to his way of doing things. I don't have a great solution to this problem since I cannot safely fly a normal GA pattern at the kinds of speeds that high wing aircraft often fly. Continuous vigilance on my part is important; of course; but other pilots need to be aware of higher performance aircraft and make reasonable accommodations for them at uncontrolled airports.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: The pilot of a high performance aerobatic aircraft is informed of an airborne conflict after landing by the pilot of the C182 involved. The reporter was flying a non standard pattern at higher speed and closer in due to the performance characteristics of his aircraft.

Narrative: I fly a high performance aerobatic aircraft out of an uncontrolled field that has a typical mix of general aviation aircraft using it. It is difficult to slow it down to Cessna 172/182 kinds of speeds in the pattern; because it forces me to have a very high deck angle to maintain altitude and this eliminates forward visibility. Further; if I fly too far from the runway (many GA pilots fly very large patterns); I will never make the runway in the event of an engine failure and an off-airport landing in this aircraft is very dangerous. As a result; my general procedure is to announce 3 miles out; then cross midfield and ascertain the location of other potential traffic in the pattern. When there is none; I fly a tight downwind; base; and final to touchdown. When there is traffic in the pattern; I orbit over the runway at pattern altitude until I can establish where I will be in the sequence for landing. At all times; I make multiple radio calls on the CTAF frequency to alert other pilots to my location and intentions.[Recently]; I was arriving into the airport area from the southwest. I called three miles out and said I would be crossing midfield. It was already apparent to me that there were several aircraft in the pattern; but I was too far away to determine exactly who was where. As I crossed midfield; I made my standard mid-field radio call; and I could see that there was an aircraft on final and one on base for runway 15; so I radioed that I would be orbiting overhead and would be number 3 for runway 15. As aircraft number 1 landed and exited the runway; I saw another aircraft turn base for 15; effectively taking my slot. Since I was in no particular hurry; I decided to let that go and I continued to orbit and again radioed that I would be number 3 for runway 15 behind the aircraft turning base. After the next aircraft landed; I radioed that the Maintenance would now be number 2 for 15. Immediately after that radio call; another aircraft entered the left downwind for 15 and radioed that he would be number 2 for 15. I responded by telling him that the Maintenance was orbiting overhead the runway and would be number 2 for 15; and he would be number 3. I received no other radio transmissions from him. When it was clear that the aircraft on final (number 1) would be down and out of my way; I entered a left downwind for 15 and then turned a tight base. At that time I saw another aircraft turning a distant base to final for 15; and I radioed that I would be down and out of his way no factor for him. That aircraft landed behind me without incident after I had exited the runway and it immediately took off again (I believe it was a touch and go; or perhaps a stop and go). After I taxied in and shut down my aircraft; another pilot taxied nearby; stepped out of his aircraft and told me that I had cut him off in the pattern. I was not aware of having cut anybody off and I exercised extra vigilance due to the amount of traffic that day. I think the root of this problem; other than the mix of different performance levels of aircraft; is the perception and belief on the part of some GA pilots that unless you're in the standard traffic pattern at very slow speed (like 80 kts); you simply cannot be allowed to land. The vast majority of the time the pilots I interact with are very cooperative and everything works fine. On rare occasion; however; there is a pilot who simply refuses to cooperate with a pilot who doesn't conform exactly to his way of doing things. I don't have a great solution to this problem since I cannot safely fly a normal GA pattern at the kinds of speeds that high wing aircraft often fly. Continuous vigilance on my part is important; of course; but other pilots need to be aware of higher performance aircraft and make reasonable accommodations for them at uncontrolled airports.

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.