Cessna 172 pilot reported an near midair collision with a helicopter on departure from ttd. Reporter...

Narrative:

I was departing on a routine flight. When I talked to ground control for a taxi clearance; I requested following and was given departure instructions with a squawk code and departure frequency. After pre takeoff checks; I switched over to tower frequency; and was cleared for takeoff on runway 25. I acknowledged the clearance and taxied on alpha 8 taxiway towards the end of the runway. Prior to lining up on the runway center line; I made a 45 degree left turn to check for landing traffic; and it was clear. I then lined up with the runway and advanced the throttle to full. I rotated at 70 knots; and then lowered the nose to about 80 knots. At around 250 feet AGL on my climb out; suddenly a helicopter appeared off my left wing tip. The helicopter was traveling the same direction as myself; descending; and was much slower. My position was in front of the control tower; approximately 20 feet north of the center line of runway 25. The position of the helicopter was in front of the control tower; and between taxiway bravo and runway 25. I believe that the helicopter was descending to taxiway bravo. I don't know from which direction initially; or whether they had a clearance to do so. However; they had drifted north of the taxiway significantly. And had I drifted to the left of the center line instead of slightly to the right; and they would have drifted just a little more into the active runway area; there is a good possibility that they would have landed on top of my wings. Since it seems unlikely that ATC would not know about this slow moving helicopter; why was I cleared for takeoff in the first place? Especially because it wasn't even busy! And since I was cleared for takeoff; why was neither the helicopter nor myself informed about the other's position? If the helicopter was cleared for an approach to the taxiway; why were 2 aircraft given clearances on a close collision course? The problem is that it is very difficult; if not impossible for either aircraft to see each other in this situation; making it more dangerous than other close traffic encounters. And I was given a direct clearance for this! Obviously; the solution would be to not have cleared us for takeoff. After all; I would rather burn a little more fuel than have an avoidable accident; but since I was cleared for takeoff; I should have been informed of the other traffic.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Cessna 172 pilot reported an NMAC with a helicopter on departure from TTD. Reporter stated he would have appreciated a traffic alert call from ATC.

Narrative: I was departing on a routine flight. When I talked to ground control for a taxi clearance; I requested following and was given departure instructions with a squawk code and departure frequency. After pre takeoff checks; I switched over to Tower frequency; and was cleared for takeoff on Runway 25. I acknowledged the clearance and taxied on Alpha 8 Taxiway towards the end of the runway. Prior to lining up on the runway center line; I made a 45 degree left turn to check for landing traffic; and it was clear. I then lined up with the runway and advanced the throttle to full. I rotated at 70 knots; and then lowered the nose to about 80 knots. At around 250 feet AGL on my climb out; suddenly a helicopter appeared off my left wing tip. The helicopter was traveling the same direction as myself; descending; and was much slower. My position was in front of the Control Tower; approximately 20 feet north of the center line of Runway 25. The position of the helicopter was in front of the Control Tower; and between Taxiway Bravo and Runway 25. I believe that the helicopter was descending to Taxiway Bravo. I don't know from which direction initially; or whether they had a clearance to do so. However; they had drifted north of the taxiway significantly. And had I drifted to the left of the center line instead of slightly to the right; and they would have drifted just a little more into the active runway area; there is a good possibility that they would have landed on top of my wings. Since it seems unlikely that ATC would not know about this slow moving helicopter; why was I cleared for takeoff in the first place? Especially because it wasn't even busy! And since I was cleared for takeoff; why was neither the helicopter nor myself informed about the other's position? If the helicopter was cleared for an approach to the taxiway; why were 2 aircraft given clearances on a close collision course? The problem is that it is very difficult; if not impossible for either aircraft to see each other in this situation; making it more dangerous than other close traffic encounters. And I was given a direct clearance for this! Obviously; the solution would be to not have cleared us for takeoff. After all; I would rather burn a little more fuel than have an avoidable accident; but since I was cleared for takeoff; I should have been informed of the other traffic.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1080686
Time
Date	201304
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	TTD.Airport
State Reference	OR
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Initial Climb
Flight Plan	None
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Private
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 10 Flight Crew Total 250 Flight Crew Type 25
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Conflict NMAC
Miss Distance	Horizontal 250 Vertical 0

Cessna 172 pilot reported an near midair collision with a helicopter on departure from ttd. Reporter stated he would have appreciated a traffic alert call from ATC.