Narrative:

A friend and I were going to depart to the east of luk in our 2 smas. We talked about going as a flight of 2, however, he spent longer starting and taxiing, so I took off on runway 2R before him, and asked local for a left turnout to 'wait overhead for the other small aircraft'. Tower ok'ed this request. I turned around to a 020 heading between the parallels. It was a pretty tight turnaround, and leveled at pattern altitude as my friend took the active and started his takeoff roll (also on 2R). I was at 1000 ft AGL as he started his roll, just over the wind sock. I called tower 'I'm going to make a left turn to join up with the other aircraft'. This was ok'ed. At this point I was coming over taxiway charlie. I banked my aircraft hard left and pushed the nose over to descend to catch up and to get down to his level for a join-up. My bank was excessive, coming to around 90 degree. This, combined with the nose down pitching motion, would have looked like a very sharp maneuver from the 'populated' area of the airport (1 mi away), possibly even from below. The reason I banked that much was to maintain visual contact with the other plane. It was just too steep. A friend who was drinking at the airport bar said some other pilots in the bar saw me do a 'hammerhead' maneuver. To me this was ludicrous until I thought about the steep bank, drop, and angle/distance they were watching from. If they only saw the last half of the maneuver, which is likely, they would have seen me in a hard bank descending, viewing from the left quarter. In retrospect, the maneuver was much too steep, too aggressive. From now on, no steep turns unless absolutely necessary.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: GA SMA MADE A STEEP DIVING TURN TO JOIN UP WITH A FRIEND TAKING OFF FROM LUK.

Narrative: A FRIEND AND I WERE GOING TO DEPART TO THE E OF LUK IN OUR 2 SMAS. WE TALKED ABOUT GOING AS A FLT OF 2, HOWEVER, HE SPENT LONGER STARTING AND TAXIING, SO I TOOK OFF ON RWY 2R BEFORE HIM, AND ASKED LCL FOR A L TURNOUT TO 'WAIT OVERHEAD FOR THE OTHER SMA'. TWR OK'ED THIS REQUEST. I TURNED AROUND TO A 020 HDG BTWN THE PARALLELS. IT WAS A PRETTY TIGHT TURNAROUND, AND LEVELED AT PATTERN ALT AS MY FRIEND TOOK THE ACTIVE AND STARTED HIS TKOF ROLL (ALSO ON 2R). I WAS AT 1000 FT AGL AS HE STARTED HIS ROLL, JUST OVER THE WIND SOCK. I CALLED TWR 'I'M GOING TO MAKE A L TURN TO JOIN UP WITH THE OTHER ACFT'. THIS WAS OK'ED. AT THIS POINT I WAS COMING OVER TAXIWAY CHARLIE. I BANKED MY ACFT HARD L AND PUSHED THE NOSE OVER TO DSND TO CATCH UP AND TO GET DOWN TO HIS LEVEL FOR A JOIN-UP. MY BANK WAS EXCESSIVE, COMING TO AROUND 90 DEG. THIS, COMBINED WITH THE NOSE DOWN PITCHING MOTION, WOULD HAVE LOOKED LIKE A VERY SHARP MANEUVER FROM THE 'POPULATED' AREA OF THE ARPT (1 MI AWAY), POSSIBLY EVEN FROM BELOW. THE REASON I BANKED THAT MUCH WAS TO MAINTAIN VISUAL CONTACT WITH THE OTHER PLANE. IT WAS JUST TOO STEEP. A FRIEND WHO WAS DRINKING AT THE ARPT BAR SAID SOME OTHER PLTS IN THE BAR SAW ME DO A 'HAMMERHEAD' MANEUVER. TO ME THIS WAS LUDICROUS UNTIL I THOUGHT ABOUT THE STEEP BANK, DROP, AND ANGLE/DISTANCE THEY WERE WATCHING FROM. IF THEY ONLY SAW THE LAST HALF OF THE MANEUVER, WHICH IS LIKELY, THEY WOULD HAVE SEEN ME IN A HARD BANK DSNDING, VIEWING FROM THE L QUARTER. IN RETROSPECT, THE MANEUVER WAS MUCH TOO STEEP, TOO AGGRESSIVE. FROM NOW ON, NO STEEP TURNS UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.