M-6
Flight Crew Flight Instructor; Flight Crew Instrument
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 55; Flight Crew Total 3000; Flight Crew Type 2000
Situational Awareness
Conflict Airborne Conflict; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport
Human Factors
I was preparing to depart Hawthorne; Nevada airfield. Since it was dead calm and I was continuing my flying trip to the east I lined up to use runway 10. I had talked to the airport hoist that morning and told her about my high tech LED lights all the way around the plane and the switch that alternates my two landing lights back and forth on each wing. I told her I had invested in the best light system possible after two close calls while flying. She offered to take a photo of my plane taking off. She also warned me that one local pilot operated without a functioning radio and did not fly standard patterns but would come and go regardless of any other aircraft on the field. I said I would turn to my right a little after liftoff so she might capture a better photo of my lights. I also said I would reduce power after liftoff to slow down a bit (my Maule jumps off quickly [and] easily). So just after liftoff I made a slight turn to my right and then flew parallel to the runway. I then saw another plane coming straight in to land on the same runway. I had made a number of radio calls before my takeoff and I called to the landing aircraft; but there was no response. IF I had taken off with full power from the midpoint intersection of the long runway (which my plane could have easily done safely); I would have likely met the other aircraft head on and died in a midair. When in an initial climb I do not see well straight ahead since the noise of my plane blocks my view due to the high angle. As it was I passed offset to my right and a little above the other plane. I was upset that someone would be coming straight in without a radio. If he had flown a standard pattern he could easily see me taxing and taking runway 10. I returned to the airport to talk to the pilot of Cessna. I reminded myself not to approach with anger. I simply asked the other pilot 'if he had seen me.' He said he did after I passed him. I asked if he had heard me on the radio and he said he heard some static. I know my radio was working fine and had been preforming well on my flying trip before and after the event. His passenger and possibly another local pilot aggressively said that a radio was not required. I said that was true if you have a death wish; but to land as another plane is taking off is a no no. I felt the Cessna pilot was not processing information well and seemed to not appreciate how unsafe his actions were. I would doubt his plane has had an annual inspection in many years and that he probably hasn't had an aviation medical exam or a biannual flight review in many years. I would say he should not be flying and I question his mental competence to drive a vehicle safely. In the future I will be more careful taking off when there is no wind since another aircraft might select the opposite end of the runway.  It reminds me to 'always' use the full length of a runway since you might need the extra spacing it allows when you lift off and climb above the rest of the runway.  Offsetting after liftoff also adds a bit of safety; but I probably won't do that unless I have a report of a local rouge pilots operating at the air field.
Maule pilot departing HTH experiences an airborne conflict with a Cessna landing opposite direction after a straight in approach and not making position reports.