Narrative:

Prior to departure; I called FSS for weather; NOTAMS; and any tfr's which maybe in effect. Called the temporary control tower in effect to receive permission; notify time enroute and departure time and receive CTAF permission and traffic in the pattern of two banner planes and several helicopters. [I] departed base airport to the race track. Initial approach revealed two banner planes circling in a left hand pattern and three to four helicopters at various altitudes in various directions. I announced I was entering the left hand traffic pattern. I stayed well outside of the banner planes as I was forced to fly at a faster airspeed. Enroute I was diligently alert to the locations of the banner planes and helicopters operating in the area. One particular helicopter was all black without any contrasting color marking; had no lights on and was very difficult to spot. All others were easy to see and locate. My passenger and I spoke about this black helicopter several times each calling out its location and difficulty to locate and keep in sight visibly. By contrast; my aircraft is a very bright electric blue and was lit up like a christmas tree for high visibility - all strobes; navigation; landing lights and taxi lights were on. On one circuit; we were scanning for traffic; I noticed the black helicopter closing nearly head on. We were approaching just to each others right. By the time I saw him it was too late to take evasive action and crossed in front of him to the right. Doing so would have required crossing in front of his path and a loss of visual since I am in a low wing aircraft. Also evading to the left would have required raising my right wing and losing sight of him as I would turn to the left. I lowered the nose to increase my passing distance while keeping him in full visual contact. It appeared he made no evasive maneuvers. Shortly thereafter; I departed the pattern and returned to base. I landed the aircraft and fueled up. I was then approached by a state highway patrol helicopter. I presented my pilot's license as requested. The trooper mentioned the black helicopter pilot mentioned that I had passed twenty feet from his nose. I explained it was much farther apart; perhaps 250 feet; and that I only saw him at the last minute. He took no evasive action. I also mentioned the difficulty we had keeping visual contact with this one aircraft due to the dark stealth black coloration and not displaying any lights and that by contrast my aircraft's bright 'electric blue' and all my strobe; navigation; landing and taxi lights were on. I also told him I was monitoring and calling out position reports and intentions on the CTAF (123.050). He told me the helicopter was on 123.020. I told the trooper the preflight sequence I followed; calling FSS and the temporary control tower in effect at the time and even showed the call log on my cell phone and times. I offered to call the tower to have the controller confirm my information - and he did. The trooper was informed from the controller that I called in and was granted permission; given the traffic advisories and the CTAF of 123.050. Corrective actions: 1) all aircraft should be on and talking on the same CTAF. In this case it was 123.050 as confirmed by the control tower. 2) visibility - all aircraft in a congested air traffic area should display any and all lights on board and should further display bright or contrasting colors in their aircraft -- pure common sense. 3) all aircraft should travel in a flight path consistent with the correct traffic pattern.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: The Pilot of a small homebuilt high performance aircraft reported a near miss with a black unlit helicopter in a CTAF traffic pattern. The helicopter was on a different frequency than the other pattern aircraft and so was not making position reports in addition to being difficult to visually track.

Narrative: Prior to departure; I called FSS for weather; NOTAMS; and any TFR's which maybe in effect. Called the Temporary Control Tower in effect to receive permission; notify time enroute and departure time and receive CTAF permission and traffic in the pattern of two banner planes and several helicopters. [I] departed base airport to the race track. Initial approach revealed two banner planes circling in a left hand pattern and three to four helicopters at various altitudes in various directions. I announced I was entering the left hand traffic pattern. I stayed well outside of the banner planes as I was forced to fly at a faster airspeed. Enroute I was diligently alert to the locations of the banner planes and helicopters operating in the area. One particular helicopter was all black without any contrasting color marking; had no lights on and was very difficult to spot. All others were easy to see and locate. My passenger and I spoke about this black helicopter several times each calling out its location and difficulty to locate and keep in sight visibly. By contrast; my aircraft is a very bright electric blue and was lit up like a Christmas tree for high visibility - all strobes; navigation; landing lights and taxi lights were on. On one circuit; we were scanning for traffic; I noticed the black helicopter closing nearly head on. We were approaching just to each others right. By the time I saw him it was too late to take evasive action and crossed in front of him to the right. Doing so would have required crossing in front of his path and a loss of visual since I am in a low wing aircraft. Also evading to the left would have required raising my right wing and losing sight of him as I would turn to the left. I lowered the nose to increase my passing distance while keeping him in full visual contact. It appeared he made no evasive maneuvers. Shortly thereafter; I departed the pattern and returned to base. I landed the aircraft and fueled up. I was then approached by a State Highway Patrol Helicopter. I presented my pilot's license as requested. The Trooper mentioned the black helicopter pilot mentioned that I had passed twenty feet from his nose. I explained it was much farther apart; perhaps 250 feet; and that I only saw him at the last minute. He took no evasive action. I also mentioned the difficulty we had keeping visual contact with this one aircraft due to the dark stealth black coloration and not displaying any lights and that by contrast my aircraft's bright 'electric blue' and all my strobe; navigation; landing and taxi lights were on. I also told him I was monitoring and calling out position reports and intentions on the CTAF (123.050). He told me the helicopter was on 123.020. I told the trooper the preflight sequence I followed; calling FSS and the Temporary Control Tower in effect at the time and even showed the call log on my cell phone and times. I offered to call the Tower to have the Controller confirm my information - and he did. The trooper was informed from the Controller that I called in and was granted permission; given the traffic advisories and the CTAF of 123.050. Corrective actions: 1) All aircraft should be on and talking on the same CTAF. In this case it was 123.050 as confirmed by the Control Tower. 2) Visibility - all aircraft in a congested air traffic area should display any and all lights on board and should further display bright or contrasting colors in their aircraft -- pure common sense. 3) All aircraft should travel in a flight path consistent with the correct traffic pattern.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.