Cessna 140
Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Private
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 40; Flight Crew Total 2200; Flight Crew Type 700
Communication Breakdown; Distraction; Situational Awareness; Troubleshooting; Workload
Conflict NMAC; Inflight Event / Encounter Other / Unknown
Flight Crew Took Evasive Action
Airspace Structure; Human Factors
I had departed ZZZ1 VFR en route to ZZZ2. There was a band of clouds on the route and as it was bumpy down low I wanted to climb up above the clouds and take advantage of the smooth air and hopefully a tailwind. I maneuvered a little to maintain VFR while climbing and eventually leveled out at 5;500 ft. MSL. I noted the lack of any distinct horizon to the north and northeast while to the south and southeast there was a horizon. It looked like the air to the north and northeast was trying to decide if it wanted to be a cloud or not. Since I could not determine distance and did not want to run into IMC I turned more eastward. About this time I caught a sudden movement out of the corner of my right eye. I first thought that it was extremely strange for a bird. I quickly turned and saw a skydiver; pilot chute deployed dragging the bag and risers out. I quickly turned my head to the left and noted a white square canopy fully deployed on my left side about 8 o'clock and lower. This scared me and I scanned rapidly for other canopies; not seeing any others. I have a Stratux for ADS-B in and I looked for traffic. I noted a contact about 2;600 ft. below and descending rapidly. I had not noticed him before and I guessed this was likely the jump plane. I had also immediately tuned into the CTAF to listen. I didn't hear any radio traffic. I am a USPA licensed sport parachutist with XXX jumps logged; though I haven't jumped in XX years or so. I fly very often by airports with jump activity and listen in for activity and give them a wide berth so as to avoid any unannounced activity. I have flown by ZZZ quite a few times; in fact I had flown by on the way to ZZZ1 from ZZZ3 earlier. I had listened to the CTAF and there had been no activity in the 15 minutes or so I listened while I passed well to the east and southeast en route to ZZZ1. I wasn't thinking about that on my return trip. I believe I was pre-occupied with evaluating the clouds and clearance when I lost situational awareness and found myself over ZZZ. I'm not so sure that the conditions were good enough for skydiving given I could not see the airport. I continued on to ZZZ2 descending after passing by the band of clouds. My normal flying is all low in my Cessna 140 and I am rarely above 3000 ft. MSL. I am normally quite conscious of my position in relation to the airports I am near. I think it likely the distraction of getting above the clouds; loss of visual ground cues for my position and the unusual visibility contributed to loss of focus on remaining clear of ZZZ. I'm going to have to make a concerted effort to maintain situational awareness at all times.
C140 pilot reported an NMAC with a skydiver.