RV-7
Flight Crew Private
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 21; Flight Crew Total 479; Flight Crew Type 121
Situational Awareness
Airspace Violation All Types; Conflict NMAC
Flight Crew Took Evasive Action
Airspace Structure; Human Factors
Flight was planned to TKI. I got approval from AFW Tower to transition their Class D airspace. From there on; I flew in a general 070/080 heading to avoid 2;000 feet DFW Class B shelf north of DFW that was off the right wing. Copilot spotted a large mansion called Champ d'Orr in Corinth; TX and wanted me to circle around. This mansion is under the 3;000 foot DFW Class B shelf but it appeared to be right on the 3;000/2;000 dividing line on the Garmin 530 display. I began circling the mansion to the north (left turn) at around 2;200 feet and upon doing so; saw a 737 pop out of a cloud around 400 feet above me. It made a slight turn to the right to avoid me and I descended down to below 2;000 feet at the same time. It and several other targets were showing on the TCAS at the time. The Garmin 530 GPS was zoomed out more than I usually have it for flying near Class B airspace; cluttering up the screen with the TCAS targets and airspace. The screen clutter prevented me from seeing how far above the 737 was as it passed overhead; but I estimate around 400 feet.I believe the root cause for the near miss is the low ceiling and the zoomed out setting on the 530; which cluttered the screen with other targets that were in the area; but not an immediate threat.
Vans RV-7A pilot reported an NMAC with a B737 in the vicinity of DFW airport.