A C172 STUDENT PLT HAS AN NMAC WITH A DSNDING; TURNING C185 AND DURING HIS EVASIVE ACTION TURN HE ENTERS THE CLASS C AIRSPACE OF MCC ON FREQ WITH TRAVIS APCH.

Narrative

WHILE ON A SOLO XCOUNTRY AS A STUDENT PLT; I WAS CLBING OUT OF DAVIS; CA; ENRTE TO REDDING. I HAD PREVIOUSLY FILED A VFR FLT PLAN WITH FSS RANCHO MURIETA. THAT PLAN HAD BEEN REVISED MULTIPLE TIMES DUE TO WX. IMMEDIATELY AFTER TKOF; I CONTACTED RANCHO FSS TO ACTIVATE THE FLT PLAN. I WAS INFORMED THAT THE FLT PLAN HAD DROPPED FROM THE SYS. SINCE THE FLT BRIEFER WAS THE SAME INDIVIDUAL I HAD FILED THE PLAN WITH; HE SAID HE REMEMBERED IT; AND WOULD LOCATE IT IN THE 'DEAD' FILE; AND HE ASKED ME TO HOLD ON WHILE THE INFO WAS LOCATED AND INPUT AGAIN. THIS PROC TOOK SEVERAL MINS; AND I DID NOT CHANGE FREQS TO CONTACT TRAVIS APCH WHILE HOLDING. MY COURSE WAS TO TAKE ME OVER THE W END OF WOODLAND; SKIRTING THE CLASS C AIRSPACE OF SACRAMENTO INTL. WHILE CLOSE TO CLASS C AIRSPACE; I OBSERVED A C180/185 (GRAY) SUDDENLY APPEAR AT APPROX 2 O'CLOCK POS; XING FROM R TO L; IN A DSNDING TURN ACROSS MY PATH. THE C180/185 NEVER DEVIATED OR ALTERED COURSE; XING FROM HIGH ON MY R; TO LOW ON MY L; IN A CONSTANT TURN. AWARE THAT I WAS IN THE PLT'S BLIND SPOT; WITH LESS THAN 500 FT HORIZ SEPARATION; AND 50 FT OF VERT; I IMMEDIATELY CLRED FOR A R-HAND TURN; MAKING A STEEP TURN TO THE E FOR APPROX 1 MIN; BEFORE RETURNING TO MY ORIGINAL COURSE. RANCHO FSS THEN NOTIFIED ME THAT MY FLT PLAN WAS ACTIVATED. I THEN IMMEDIATELY CONTACTED TRAVIS APCH TO ESTABLISH RADAR CONTACT AND FLT FOLLOWING. AT THAT TIME I WAS ADVISED TO TURN TO 10 DEGS AND CLR CLASS C AIRSPACE. THE INCIDENTS ARE TWOFOLD. MY CONCERN WITH THE C180/185 NMAC INTERFERED WITH ACCURATELY NAVING THE ACFT. THE INCURSION WOULD NOT HAVE OCCURRED HAD I BEEN ABLE TO CONTACT TRAVIS APCH PRIOR TO NEARING THE CLASS C AIRSPACE. ACTIVATING THE VFR FLT PLAN WITH RANCHO FSS BY TELEPHONE; RATHER THAN BY RADIO; WOULD HAVE AVOIDED THE DELAY IN CONTACTING TRAVIS; CAUSED BY THE PROB WITH FSS.