A C177 PLT EXPERIENCED AN NMAC WITH A TOW ACFT AND GLIDER AFTER EXECUTING A GAR. RPTR CITES VISUAL OBSTRUCTION OF THE SUN AS CONTRIBUTORY.

Narrative

ON NOV/SAT/05 AT APPROX XA00; I WAS ATTEMPTING TO LAND ON RWY 25. I HAD A PAX WITH ME WHO IS ALSO A LICENSED PLT. (ALTHOUGH MR X IS A LICENSED PLT; IT WAS MY ACFT; AND I WAS PIC; NOT HE.) THE RADIO WAS TUNED TO 123.0; THE LCL CTAF-UNICOM (WHICH IS SHARED BY A NUMBER OF OTHER ARPTS IN THE AREA). WE WEREN'T WEARING ANY HEADSETS; BUT THE VOLUME WAS SET TO HIGH AND WE HEARD THE STANDARD TFC CHATTER. AS ALWAYS; MY ROTATING BEACON ON THE TAIL AND THE WINGTIP STROBES WERE ON. AS WE WERE RETURNING; I WAS HAVING DIFFICULTY SEEING FROM THE GLARE AND I ALSO TURNED ON MY HEADLIGHT AND MY TAXI LIGHTS. SINCE I WAS EXPERIENCING LIMITED VISIBILITY; I WAS TRYING TO BE AS VISIBLE AS POSSIBLE TO SOMEONE ELSE. AT APPROX XA00 ON THIS NOVEMBER DAY; THE SETTING SUN WAS BLINDING. BECAUSE OF THAT; I HAD A FEW PROBS FINDING THE LCL ARPT AND WE FLEW AROUND A BIT AT 2500 FT LOOKING FOR IT. THE ARPT HAS A PAVED RWY (RWY 25/07) WITH A GRASS AREA TO THE L OF RWY 25 THAT IS USED FOR GLIDER OPS. WHEN I FOUND THE ARPT; I HEADED E; DROPPED DOWN TO THE 1400 FT PATTERN ALT; SLOWED DOWN; EXTENDED THE UNDERCARRIAGE; ENTERED THE PATTERN UPWIND AT 1400 FT AT AROUND 110 MPH; A FEW MI E OF RWY 25. THEN I WENT AROUND THE WHOLE PATTERN. I ANNOUNCED MY POS AT DOWNWIND AND BASE. AS I MADE MY TURN TO FINAL; I ANNOUNCED MY POS AGAIN; AND REALIZED THAT I WASN'T LINED UP PROPERLY FOR RWY 25. I WAS FURTHER TO THE R THEN I WANTED TO BE; AND I WAS HIGHER THAN I WOULD HAVE LIKED. I CORRECTED MY POS; BUT TO CONTINUE THE LNDG; I WOULD HAVE HAD TO LAND BEYOND THE FIRST 1/3 OF THE RWY; WHICH I'VE BEEN TAUGHT IS AN UNSAFE PRACTICE -- SO AT ABOUT 100+ FT OFF THE GND; I DECIDED TO GO AROUND. I ANNOUNCED MY GAR INTENTIONS; PUSHED IN THE THROTTLE; AND AS AIRSPD INCREASED; I REDUCED MY FLAPS AND INCREASED MY CLB. WHILE I WAS CLBING; BEFORE I TURNED (L) UPWIND; A GLIDER APPEARED DANGEROUSLY CLOSE; AND IMMEDIATELY BELOW MY L SIDE WINDOW. I'M GUESSING WE WERE LESS THAN 500 FT AGL AT THIS TIME. WE WERE SO CLOSE THAT I COULD SEE THE TOP OF THE PERSON'S HEAD. I DON'T THINK WE WERE MORE THAN 10-20 FT ABOVE THE GLIDER OR 10 FT TO THE R OF ITS COCKPIT (I DIDN'T EXACTLY STOP TO MEASURE). IT SHOCKED THE HELL OUT OF ME. I SCREAMED 'WHOA' AND MY PAX HAD NO IDEA WHAT WAS GOING ON. I COULDN'T UNDERSTAND WHERE THIS GLIDER CAME FROM; WHAT IT WAS DOING NEXT TO ME; OR WHAT IT WAS GOING TO DO NEXT. I ALSO DIDN'T WANT TO DO ANYTHING THAT MIGHT DISRUPT IT; SO I INCREASED MY CLB SLOWLY AND BEGAN A GENTLE TURN TO THE R. AT THAT MOMENT; I SAW THE REFLECTION FROM THE SUN ON THE TOW LINE FROM THE GLIDER'S NOSE; WHICH APPEARED TO BE UNDERNEATH MY NOSE. I THEN REALIZED THAT THERE WAS A TOW PLANE ATTACHED TO THE FRONT OF THE GLIDER; PROBABLY DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF ME. OUT OF FRIGHT; I SCREAMED AGAIN AND TOOK EMER EVASIVE ACTION -- MAKING A VERY HARD R CLBING TURN. I NEVER SAW THE TOW PLANE; JUST THE TOW LINE AND THE GLIDER. I ALSO DON'T KNOW HOW CLOSE THE TOW PLANE WAS TO ME (I'M SURE IT CAN BE COMPUTED MATHEMATICALLY; LENGTH OF TOW LINE LESS A COUPLE OF FT). MY PAX; WHO WAS SITTING ON THE R; NEVER SAW ANYTHING. HE JUST HEARD ME SCREAM TWICE AND FELT THE HARD CLBING R. FROM THE TIME THAT I SAW THE GLIDER TO THE TIME THAT I TOOK THE FINAL EVASIVE ACTION COULDN'T HAVE BEEN MORE THAN 2 SECONDS. AFTER WE WERE FAR ENOUGH AWAY; I TURNED BACK AND SPOTTED THE TOW PLANE. I THEN RETURNED TO THE PATTERN AND LANDED. THAT INCIDENT SCARED THE CRAP OUT OF ME. LATER THAT EVENING; WHILE I WAS STILL SHAKING; SOMEONE CALLED WHO SAID THAT THEY WERE FROM THE ARPT AND HE WANTED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. I EXPLAINED TO HIM THAT 'I DIDN'T SEE THE GLIDER NOR THE TOW PLANE; IN FACT THE SUN WAS BURNING OUR EYES SO BAD AND THAT WE COULD BARELY SEE ANYTHING.' HE STATED THAT THE GLIDER PLT HAD ANNOUNCED HIS DEP; THAT THEY 'HAD HEARD US ANNOUNCE FINAL; THAT IT APPEARED THAT WE WERE GOING TO MAKE THE LNDG; AND THEY COULDN'T UNDERSTAND WHY WE WERE GOING AROUND.' BASED ON THIS CONVERSATION; AND THE LOCATION OF THE NMAC; IT'S OBVIOUS THAT THEY DECIDED NOT TOWAIT FOR US TO LAND; BUT INSTEAD DECIDED TO DEPART WHILE WE WERE ON FINAL. I'M NOT SURE WHO HE IS. BASED ON THE CONVERSATION; I THINK THAT HE MAY HAVE BEEN IN THE GLIDER. HE WANTED TO KNOW IF I HEARD THEIR DEP CALL; I RESPONDED WITH 'NO.' HE WANTED TO KNOW IF I HAD WORKING RADIOS; I RESPONDED WITH 'YES.' HE WANTED TO KNOW WHY WE DIDN'T SEE HIM -- I EXPLAINED THAT WE HAD THE SUN IN OUR EYES AND THAT WE REALLY COULDN'T SEE MUCH OF ANYTHING. HE RECITED THE RULES A FEW TIMES; HOW ACFT BELOW HAVE THE RIGHT-OF-WAY; HOW GLIDERS AND TOW PLANES HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY (WHICH I EXPLAINED THAT I KNEW SINCE I'VE BEEN OPERATING OUT OF THERE FOR 10 YRS); AND HOW I NEED TO HAVE MORE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS. I EXPLAINED TO HIM THAT I COULDN'T EXACTLY PROVIDE A RIGHT-OF-WAY IF I DIDN'T KNOW THAT THEY WERE THERE. HE ALSO EXPLAINED THAT THIS WAS THE CLOSEST HE EVER GOT TO DYING FROM AN NMAC AND I AGREED WITH HIM THAT IT WAS THE CLOSEST THAT I EVER GOT TO DYING FROM AN NMAC AS WELL. I EXPLAINED HOW I ALWAYS GIVE WAY TO THE GLIDERS AND TOW PLANES -- THIS TIME I DIDN'T KNOW THEY WERE THERE. I'M NOT TRYING TO SHRUG MY RESPONSIBILITIES IN THIS MATTER. I WAS ABOVE THEM AND DIDN'T SEE THEM -- FOR ONE REASON OR ANOTHER COULDN'T SEE THEM. THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS THAT BECAUSE THE 3 OF US HAD NOSE HIGH ATTITUDES AND I WAS SLIGHTLY BEHIND AND ABOVE THE TOW PLANE AND GLIDER; NONE OF US SAW THE OTHER ONE UNTIL WE CAME DANGEROUSLY CLOSE. HE SAID THAT THEY MADE THEIR DEP ANNOUNCEMENT -- SINCE WE DIDN'T HEAR IT; WE HAVE NO WAY OF KNOWING IF THEY DID; OR IF THEY GOT DISTR; FORGOT TO; AND BELIEVE THEY DID. BOTTOM LINE; NEITHER MY PAX NOR I HEARD IT. IT'S POSSIBLE THAT THEIR ANNOUNCEMENT CAME WHILE I WAS DOING THE FINAL CHK (VISUALLY CONFIRMED GEAR DOWN; GREEN LIGHT ON; FUEL IN; PROP IN; FUEL SELECTOR -- BOTH). IF WE HAD HEARD THE CALL; I'D LIKE TO THINK THAT THE RESULTS WOULD HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT -- THAT I WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO SPOT THEM. BUT WITH THE SUN BURNING IN OUR EYES; I STILL DON'T KNOW IF WE WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO SEE THEM -- AND THAT REALLY SCARES THE CRAP OUT OF ME EVEN MORE. I CONSIDER MYSELF A SAFE; CAREFUL (MAYBE TOO CAREFUL); LOW-TIME; FAIR WX PLT; WHO ONLY GOES OUT ON VERY NICE DAYS. I DO SHALLOW ASCENTS AND SHALLOW DSCNTS TO BE ABLE TO SEE OTHER ACFT. I'M AWARE THAT THINGS HAPPENING IN THE PATTERNS; AND IN THE PAST; ACFT HAVE DSNDED ON ME A NUMBER OF TIMES WITHOUT THE OTHER PLT KNOWING I WAS THERE. BECAUSE OF THAT; I SPEND A LOT OF TIME LOOKING UP; MAYBE TOO MUCH TIME LOOKING UP. NOW; I'LL HAVE TO SPEND SOME OF THAT TIME LOOKING DOWN AS WELL.