Watching Out for the Big Guys

I do not have much experience in a glider (very little in fact), but I do fly a very slow aircraft.

I believe that anywhere a glider is generally allowed to fly, he should not be going more than 250kts.  While this is relatively fast, it still should give pleanty of time to spot each other, so the Mark 1 eyeball is still the best solution on both of your ends.  If he was going faster than that, and it can be proven, then action should probably be taken.

Realizing that "stuff happens", and all of us make mistakes and sometimes just fail to see the other guy (we are human afterall), the next best thing I can recommend is to have a transponder installed in the glider.  Yes, I do understand about the weight, but some of these transponders and associated batteries are pretty small, and a lot of gliders around my area use them.  This way those "big bad jets" have a reasonable chance to see you on TCAS.

Additionally, one has to wonder if this jet was on an IFR flight plan.  Did ATC fail to see you on radar?  A real possibility, but regardless, if he was that low, he was probably landing...in which case you were in the vacinity of a runway.  In that case you might want to make sure you stay well outside the jet landing pattern and extended center line.  A handheld radio, even if you don't transmit, would be a good device to monitor as well because if this guy was landing, he was likely calling out his position.

I was once doing T&G's at my airport with a major air carrier after the tower had closed.  The allegient flight was landing and announcing his calls like: "Allegient xxx, 15 mile right base to runway 30L".  I had no chance of seeing him, but I had a pretty good idea of where NOT to be!

Just my $0.02

Can't say I'm a expert on flying a glider, but I have had a couple of close encounters of the scary kind!  Once while still a student and flying with my instructor up to Green Bay for a tour of their flight service center we had a close encounter with a Skyhawk.  It was climbing out from a take-off and we were cruising at 4500 MSL.  I also had a guy take-off without a clearance while flying a downwind leg at a controlled airport!  I was on my way in to attend an FAA safety seminar and half the guys attending that spring event were not familiar with radio procedures and class D airports.  Needless to say I learned more about safety that day in my aircraft then I did at the seminar!  The guy that took off was flying a Bonanza and the tower really gave him an ear full when he climbed over me while I dove away for cover!  

Here's how I fly cross-country, I plan my route really "old school" using VFR sectional charts and set-up my trip book with the airport facility pages for all the airports along the way.  I even keep a check list of radio frequencies along the way.  I tune my radio to the nearest airport as I travel and announce my position, altitude, and heading when I'm 5 or 6 miles away.  Then I turn on my landing light and if there is radio traffic on the frequency I will give a couple of advisory calls until I clear the area.  When flying near radar facilities I will ask for flight following and get a squawk code for the transponder.  

I don't know how close you were to an airport, capable of handling a jet but if your at 5000 you are high enough to encounter aircraft in cruise mode.  Cruising is boring, and a lot of pilots get a bit "disconnected" while droning along.  The sky is a big place but we are moving very fast even in light aircraft, you have to stay alert and involved from pre-flight to tie down.

You will get past your "unsettling" event, but think about where your flying and who may be up there with you.  There is nothing wrong about calling out position reports even when the frequency is dead.

That's my 2 cents for what it's worth!  Fly Safe!

Joe

Could you tell us what airport you were flying at, the name not just some code if you will?

The FARs are clear, the glider has the right away over a corporate jet, except maybe in some class B,(TCA) airspace, or in IMC weather.

But almost all corporate jets fly on IFR flight plans, all the time, even in clear weather, and thus they get used to thinking every other plane is supposed to clear out of their way, and they are not very good at looking out the window.

They get complacent about having an electronic traffic finder on board to spot traffic which may work for other jets, but of course a I-26 doesn't have an electric system much less a transponder.

I fly out of Aspen, and it is normal that when approach control calls out my Bonanza to corporate jets, of which there are hundreds, they rarely see my plane visually until pretty close, if at all.

I have never seen a transponder or electric system in a I-26 or 2-33,or even in radio in one. Weight and complexity and cost are the opposite of the appeal of flying these planes. Many or most glider flying areas are more remote from where most jet traffic is.

I also fly gliders , mostly 2-33s in Boulder and fortunately there is very little jet traffic there. I do try to keep a good watch out as there are many other gliders and some other planes.

I was flying an airplane belonging to the High Flights Soaring Club at Meadowlake airport in Falcon, CO. We do have Colorado Springs Class C just beside us, and the jet was on its way into COS. The interesting thing is that our tow pilot had called the tower, something that the club has arranged with the them to do, to let them know that we were beginning operations. The agreement has been that after we have given the tower a heads up about our operations they will then advise approaching aircraft of our existence and warn them of the hazard of flying through our area. None the less, most pilots seem to ignore these warnings and big military jets, airliners, F-16, and executive jets come screaming through on a regular basis.

You might be surprised but all of our aircraft, 1-26s, 2-33s, 1-34, and late L-13 have electrical in them in the form of a battery, radio, and audio variometer.

So that's in the vicinity of the notice on the sectional, "INTENSIVE GLIDER ACTIVITY MONITOR 123.05."  Of course, that doesn't help you with IFR traffic because they don't use the sectionals.  I do wonder what I'd get if I monitored 123.05.

A cursory warning, easily forgotten and mostly ignored, doesn't seem to help a lot.  I'm not sure there's a good answer, since you have a right to be there and so do they.  I know it's not required, but if I were doing it, I'd figure out some way to get a transponder.  I understand that may not be practical.

I'll be up at Meadowlake next month.  I'll keep an eye out.

One correction, Mike. the frequency for glider operation is 123.3 and the frequency for the winch procedures that go on at Meadowlake is 123.5.

Thanks all for the comments. They are appreciated.

I think one of the small inexpensive traffic warning receivers like the Zaon for $469 at My Pilot Store would be even better than a transponder.  There is one that operates off of 2 AA batteries or the aircraft's power and it will warn you of other traffic within up to 5 miles away if they have a transponder and it is being read by ATC.  You don't need a transponder, although that would be nice too, because it will read your altitude with its built in altimeter.  I have one on the glareshield of my 180 an d it has "saved" me from getting the stuff scared out of me a couple of times.  It won't give a readout on other aircraft that don't have a transponder.  Check out

 You may recall a midair collision between a Hawker 800 and a Schleicher sailplane in the vicinity of Minden, Nevada back in August of 2006. By some miracle, everyone survived. But this incident illustrates the problem better than any I can recall. Here is the link:

http://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief.aspx?ev_id=20060906X01297&key=2

I fly a big jet for a living, and I fly "real" airplanes for fun, but I take exception to the statement someone made about jet pilots thinking everyone should "clear out of the way".  We know the rules too.  But we are talking about survival here, not just right-of-way.  We operate in numerous high-threat areas (mixing with VFR traffic) such as Reno, Burbank/Van Nuys, San Diego, and the Bay Area, just to name a few.  The problem jet pilots have is seeing smaller aircraft in time to avoid them.  You may see us more easily in the big planes, but since you are much smaller and usually below us it is much harder to pick you out of the ground clutter.  We also don't have the greatest visibility through the windscreen either.  If your aircraft has a transponder with altitude encoding, this becomes much easier.  With our TCAS I will know where to look for you, and if we start getting too close, the system will direct me into a vertical deconfliction to keep us apart.  This is called a Resolution Advisory or RA.  Personally, my heart rate jumps whenever I descend into a high traffic area, especially south of Reno, because it is so difficult to see the VFR aircraft, and many are not talking to ATC in those areas.  This is especially true with the gliders since they typically do not carry transponders.  But if they did, seeing and avoiding them would be far easier.  Many of us have even started tuning our weather radar to look ahead and below our aircraft in an attempt to "skin paint" these gliders.  Also, I am now hearing disturbing reports of my colleagues seeing sailplanes well above 18,000 ft who are not talking to ATC.

Due to the high terrain around the Reno area, the approach/departure paths have to run through the valley north and south of the Reno airport.  This terrain is also what makes the area so attractive for soaring.  I understand that adding a battery and transponder to a sailplane increases cost and weight, but it is still the best and cheapest life insurance available.  And it protects our passengers (maybe your loved ones) as well.  Transponders are available now that only weigh 1 1/2 pounds and draw only 1/4 of an amp, so should be able to operate on a small battery.

I have no idea why any sailplane would be well above 18,000 unless it is in a wave window. If this is the case ATC should be advising other traffic of the existence of the window. If the sailplanes are not in a wave window they are being totally illegal, and should probably be reported. As for myself I won't be caught flying above 18,000. At our club we all try to stop climbing around 17,500 to 17,800.

I would like to correct myself, but upon looking into the regs a glider pilot may fly into classes A, B, or C airspace provided he has contacted the controlling agency no earlier than an hour before entering that airspace. For those flying the big jets on IFR flight plans in these airspace classes, the tower should be able to advise you if there are any gliders in a given area.