Cessna Stationair/Turbo Stationair 6
Flight Crew Instrument
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 60; Flight Crew Total 10500; Flight Crew Type 6000
Communication Breakdown; Other / Unknown
Conflict Ground Conflict; Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Ground Incursion Runway
Flight Crew Took Evasive Action
Human Factors
I loaded and taxied to Runway 06 to depart into a light breeze; 04 KTS from the north. Transmitted my intentions for departure on Runway 06; and not hearing a radio response I checked for possible 06 final traffic then started my take-off roll. At about rotation speed I saw that there was landing lights visible at the far end of the runway. There seems to be some crown in the runway as at first I had difficulty recognizing that it was an aircraft. I determined that it was better to continue with the departure than to decelerate and try and exit the runway. I lifted off and banked to the left (north) to increase the separation distance. More and or longer radio transmissions on my part might have helped the pilots of the other aircraft know that I was planning to depart from 06 at GUC and a slower taxi into position would have made for an opportunity to better scan for other traffic. I believe that the other pilots had made all the appropriate radio calls; as I had; it was the small amount of time that I took between making my departure call and rolling that was in error; with poor vigilance on my part.
C206 pilot taking off on Runway 06 at GUC reports detecting a business jet landing on Runway 24 as he is about to rotate. The takeoff is continued with a turn to the north and the reporter suggests that he may have been in error.