Sport Pilot Talk

I didn't want to make a big deal about this on the forums, but a few of you are already aware that I had a harrowing experience three months ago, flying back home from Florida. Being first and always a teacher, I decided that once the situation was resolved (and the airplane repaired), I would turn the experience into a safety seminar.

Well, I have my plane back, good as new, and I am scheduled for an EAA Webinar next Wednesday night, 11 May, at 8 PM EDT. Here is the published description:

This past January, while flying home from Florida, flight instructor H. Paul Shuch experienced an uncomfortably close encounter with another aircraft, resulting in a bruised ego and a broken canopy. Paul relates the events leading up to the incident, how luck and skill (mostly luck) saved him from disaster, handling the aftermath, and lessons learned from the near midair collision (NMAC). If you want to miss other aircraft, don't miss this FAA Wings credit webinar!

You may sign up at:

http://www.eaa.org/webinars

signed up... 'can't wait for the details. Glad all is well!

Will it be recorded for later viewing?

Absolutely! I'll post the URL here as soon as it's available.

.......

I hadn't heard about your encounter, but I am glad your here to tell about it. Is there someplace a where a person can look up the details of the incident. or maybe here would be a good place to share.

Details would fill a 1 1/2 hour safety seminar. Maybe I should do one. Oh, wait...

I guess I was looking for the Cliff Note version.

That would be excerpts from my NASA ASRS report, which in fact were published in a recent General Aviation News (the March edition, if memory serves).

I haven't had much time to read lately, but I do have those sitting here on the counter. I will have to take a look.

The only typo in that excerpt is that the editor (or his or her autocorrect software) changed "a TIS alert" to "ATIS alert".

Home now, and able to check my issue. The summary appears in General Aviation News for April 21, 2016, page B4, under "ASRS Reports." I will post my full ASRS report to my website after Wednesday night's webinar, and will post the URL here.

Here is the link to the magazine online. The article is on page 29 of 40. Section B4.

https://issuu.com/flyermedia/docs/gan_8 ... 2d1d02b186

Very stressful, I'm sure. Glad you're ok!

Yikes!

I had the impression contact had been made with another aircraft. Obviously not - quite!

One possible takeaway is the acknowledgement of "loose objects". A good example why these are not a good idea.

I'm sure Prof. Shuch is the first to admit this, and will address it in the webinar.

While flying my Warrior I met a Pitts under almost the exact same conditions. 6,500 feet in the Summer. Visibility was poor due to the hot humid Summer conditions, I would guess about 5-7 miles. All of a sudden here was this Pitts passing just to my left and slightly higher. There was maybe 100 feet of separation. It happened so quick there was no time to take evasive action, and I'm not sure they had even had any visual contact with me.