GA pilot reported a CFTT event while landing at MSV non-towered airport. Reportedly; sun glare contributed to the event.
Synopsis
GA pilot reported a CFTT event while landing at MSV non-towered airport. Reportedly; sun glare contributed to the event.
Narrative
I was flying to Sullivan County airport (MSV) in a club aircraft which recently had a Dynon Skyview HDX system installed. This was my second flight with the system. I have flown to MSV before but it has been some time since I did so. Approaching from the Southeast; I planned to cross the runway at 500+ feet above pattern altitude and then maneuver to left downwind for runway 33.In my past flying with an electronic flight bag; I reviewed pattern altitude by looking at the information page for the airport. I did so on the Dynon while in flight; and saw a prominent altitude displayed on the information page for MSV of 1;400 feet. I took this to be pattern altitude when in fact it was the airport elevation. Approaching the airport with the sun right on the horizon in front of me I made standard calls and stated that I would cross midfield at 2;200 feet. At the time there were no aircraft in the pattern and one plane taxiing to [runway] 33. Descending to 2;200 feet and focused on the airport environment in front of me I was not able to perceive how low I was with the very bright sun glare I was facing. I crossed the runway at 2;200 feet (800 agl) and continuing straight; began to descend again to about 1;800 feet before starting a teardrop turn. As I turned I simultaneously noticed how low the ground looked; and heard the pilot of the plane that had been taxiing (and was holding short) say something like 'Aircraft X - are you OK?'. At that point I realized my mistake; climbed and then completed landing.I was lucky that the ground at that airport actually falls away from the airport environment. Contributing factors were the sun glare; my unfamiliarity with the Dynon system both in misinterpreting pattern altitude and in being focused on unfamiliar engine readouts as I leveled and began to descend again. I also should have fully briefed the airport before taking off (I had reviewed the runway/taxiway environment; weather and NOTAMs; but somehow did not review the pattern altitude). One last contributing factor was that most of the airports I fly to in the area have pattern altitudes of around 1;500 feet; so the 1;400 number made sense to me.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.