Amateur/Home Built/Experimental
Air Traffic Control Fully Certified; Flight Crew Private
Communication Breakdown; Situational Awareness
Conflict Ground Conflict; Critical; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Ground Incursion Runway
Flight Crew Became Reoriented; Flight Crew Took Evasive Action
Airport; Human Factors
Began entering a single runway no taxiway airport as another aircraft was on final and beginning to land; but not quite at flare. This airport has only a single runway with no taxiway; and you must enter the runway at the middle and taxi to either end in order to take off.Prior to entering the runway I heard another small aircraft say they were 7 miles out. My experience with aircraft at this distance is that this is more than enough time for other small aircraft to take off. However; because I wasn't sure and wanted to be safe/certain; I called the other aircraft back and informed him I was about to take-off and how long did he think he would be en-route; and that I could wait if needed.I waited a minute and I didn't hear a response back; so I decided I probably had time to depart. I taxied to the hold short; looked both ways; and radioed again to double check. The other aircraft did not respond (or anyone else); so I began crossing the hold.At this time; the pilot in the other aircraft cursed into his microphone; I looked again; and saw him flying about 40 feet above me down the runway; he aborted his run and I expected him to try again. In the meantime; I wasn't going fast because I was looking for him and trying to be cautious and I immediately pivoted 180 and exited the way I'd come. I radioed back to the other pilot; letting him know I had called before entering; but also apologizing and thanking him for his quick action. I waited on the ground to talk to him in person; but the pilot declined to land.There are a number of things that went wrong and that could be improved. A) For my part; I could have waited a full 10-15 minutes; which would have allowed most small planes 7 miles out to set up for approach and enter the pattern. B) Also; while I did perform definitive visual scans; I didn't see the aircraft; and I think if I had taken some deep breaths and scanned the same way we're taught to in the air; this might have helped. On the other hand; even as I was looking at the belly of the aircraft on the ground; the color blended - but did not merge with the sky; and it might have been making a shallow descent over the trees onto the runway making it more difficult to see. Either way; a deliberate scanning technique like those taught for looking for VFR traffic in the air may have helped and I will definitely be using in the future.C) I made two radio calls prior to entering the runway; while the other aircraft made only a single radio call. I thought the another aircraft pilot said 7 miles out; while the operator thought the other pilot might have said 3 miles out. In either case; I called the other pilot and didn't respond. The other pilot also failed to make any traffic pattern calls; or respond to me after I replied politely to his understandable cursing at me. I know that my radio worked; I don't know if his reception worked. Because I only control my own actions; and I attempted to make radio contact; I can only suggest that in the future a) I make a 3rd call; and (b) wait longer in case the other traffic has an INOP receiver.Looking back on it; I'm used to operating at non-towered airports where incoming traffic is often slow and can take a long time to approach from 7 miles out. Also; traffic is very conscious about making good radio calls despite being at an untowered airport. I've heard that many pilots aren't very good about radio calls; but I've never experienced that until now. If radio traffic is not reliable; and if other pilots don't respond to you; you can't be sure exactly how close they are. I may have easily misheard 7 instead of 3 miles out; as well. It's best just to wait another 10-15 minutes. Even though it's no guarantee; it at least gives plenty of time for someone '7 miles out' to figure to do whatever they're going to do.' I never want to be responsible for another close call in the rest of my flying career.
Experimental aircraft pilot reported not seeing an aircraft on final as he entered the runway for back taxi. The other aircraft went around and departed the pattern.