RV-4
Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Flight Instructor; Flight Crew Commercial; Flight Crew Multiengine
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 30; Flight Crew Total 1000; Flight Crew Type 150
Communication Breakdown; Situational Awareness
Conflict NMAC; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Flight Crew Took Evasive Action
Procedure
Departing Runway 28; exited pattern on left crosswind to the south. Made position report exiting pattern.A few minutes later; I heard an aircraft call inbound; if it was stated; I did not catch the direction/altitude. I made a mistake here by not directly clarifying with the other pilot. Instead; I reported my position as 5 miles from [the airport]; altitude was given; but I do not specifically recall what I said as I was climbing at this time; I believe I reported 2;700. I had wrongly assumed that this additional position report would prompt the other pilot if there was a conflict.A few minutes later; at roughly 10 miles south of [the airport] and 3;900 feet MSL; I look up from scanning my instruments and from my 2 o'clock see an unpainted; low wing experimental aircraft roughly 50 feet above me on a direct collision course. As a reaction; I pushed forward on the stick enough to bump my head on the canopy; G meter registered 0. I quickly realized that my actions were too late as my aircraft hadn't actually reacted to any measurable change in altitude until the conflicting aircraft had passed overhead.At that close of range; I was certainly in the low-wings blind spot and looked back and noticed that not at all during this time did the conflicting craft alter heading or altitude so I do not believe I was seen by the other pilot at all.I was in a bit of shock immediately following the event and was debating whether I should key the mic and query CTAF to see if the pilot that nearly collided with me was aware of the situation. I opted not to at the time; reasoning that there's nothing either of us could do at that point.The things I see I did wrong1) Heard an aircraft calling inbound; didn't catch direction/altitude. Should have spoken up and clarified their intentions; never assume.2) After the event; I should have queried the pilot to notify him of the occurrence. Not to admonish him; as we are both responsible to see-and-avoid; but just so they could realize the severity of the situation and be given the chance to learn from it as I have.
RV-4 pilot reported that while climbing out of a Common Traffic Advisory Frequency (CTAF) airport at about 3;900 feet; another aircraft on decent for the same airport came within 50 feet of his aircraft.