M20 PLT EXECUTES A GAR AT BWI AFTER REALIZING VISUAL APCH WAS MADE TO THE WRONG RWY.

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WE WERE INBOUND TO BWI FROM THE W; ON A HDG OF 090 DEGS; AT 2000 FT MSL. IT WAS A CLR NIGHT. APCH CTL SAID TO EXPECT A VISUAL TO RWY 15L. ABOUT 8 MI OUT; APCH ASKED IF I SAW THE ARPT -- I REPLIED THAT I SAW THE BEACON BUT NOT THE RWYS. WE WERE DSNDED TO 1500 FT MSL; THEN HANDED OFF TO TWR; 3 OR 4 MI OUT. TWR ASKED IF I HAD RWY 15L IN SIGHT; I SAID NO. THERE WAS A SEA OF LIGHTS TO MY R FRONT; BUT I COULDN'T MAKE OUT THE RWY LIGHTS. TWR THEN CLBED US BACK TO 2000 FT MSL; SAID THEY'D TAKE US AROUND TO RWY 33R. WHEN WE CROSSED THE EXTENDED CTRLINE OF RWY 15L; I COULD SEE THE RWY 15 LIGHTS CLRLY; HOWEVER; WE WERE AT 1854 FT AGL; LESS THAN 1 MI FROM THE APCH END OF THE RWY; SO TOO HIGH TO LAND ON RWY 15L EVEN IF WE HAD BEEN CLRED TO DO SO. I RECALL WONDERING IF THE RWY LIGHTS AND APCH LIGHTS WERE SOMEWHAT DIRECTIONAL; SO THAT THEY WERE BRIGHTEST IF VIEWED FROM THE APCH END OF THE RWY VERSUS VIEWED FROM A DIAGONAL. ALMOST IMMEDIATELY AFTER PASSING THE EXTENDED CTRLINE OF RWY 15L; WE WERE VECTORED TO 150 DEGS; DOWNWIND FOR RWY 33R BUT VERY CLOSE TO THE RWY -- I LOST SIGHT OF IT ON THE R SIDE OF THE AIRPLANE. AT THAT POINT I BELIEVE WE WERE DSNDED BACK TO 1500 FT MSL. A MIN OR 2 LATER; WE WERE VECTORED TO 200 DEGS (NOT QUITE A PERPENDICULAR BASE LEG); CLRED TO LAND ON RWY 33R; AND ADVISED OF TFC ON FINAL FOR RWY 33L. I RESPONDED THAT I SAW THE TFC; WHICH AS AT ABOUT OUR 1- O'CLOCK POS. I LOOKED FOR THE RWY 33R RWY AND SAW ONE IN FRONT OF US WITH A 330 DEG ORIENTATION. I ASSUMED IT WAS RWY 33R AND BEGAN TO DSND AND HEAD FOR IT. HOWEVER; I EXPECTED TO SEE RWY 33L BEYOND IT; AND DIDN'T SEE A SECOND RWY; WHICH RAISED A CONCERN IN MY MIND -- BUT SINCE I HADN'T BEEN ABLE TO SEE RWY 15L WHEN WE WERE WITHIN A MI OR TWO OF IT BUT ON A DIAGONAL TO THE RWY DIRECTION; I THOUGHT THIS WAS THE SAME SITUATION. I ALSO NOTICED THAT THE RWY SEEMED LONGER THAN I EXPECTED (RWY 33R IS 5000 FT; VERSUS 9519 FT FOR RWY 33L); BUT I WAS TIRED AND DIDN'T IMMEDIATELY PROCESS THAT INFO. WE CONTINUED DSCNT TO THE RWY; BEGINNING A TURN FROM R BASE TOWARDS FINAL. THEN I NOTICED A LARGE JET ON AN INTERSECTING RWY; ABOUT TO CROSS WHAT I THOUGHT WAS RWY 33R. SINCE THERE ARE NO INTERSECTING RWYS ON RWY 33R; I FINALLY FIGURED OUT THAT WHAT I THOUGHT WAS RWY 33R WAS ACTUALLY RWY 33L! AS I WAS REACHING TO KEY THE MIKE AND ADVISE THAT WE WERE GOING AROUND; TWR INSTRUCTED US TO GO AROUND. WE WERE PROBABLY ABOUT 500 FT AGL AT THAT POINT; AND 1/2 MI ABEAM THE RWY. I NEVER SAW RWY 33R AT ALL. TWR THEN VECTORED US TO A LONG DOWNWIND FOR RWY 33R; FAR ENOUGH ABEAM THE RWY THAT I COULD SEE IT OUT THE R SIDE WINDOW; AND TURNED US TO BASE LEG PROBABLY 4 MI OUT. FROM THAT POS; WE IMMEDIATELY SAW THE APCH LIGHTS FOR BOTH RWY 33R AND RWY 33L; AND WERE PROPERLY ALIGNED FOR A NORMAL LNDG ON RWY 33R. TWR ALSO TOLD US TO TURN INBOUND ON THE RWY 33R LOC; WHICH IT HADN'T OCCURRED TO ME TO USE UP TO THAT TIME. USING THE LOC HELPED TO CONFIRM THAT WE WERE; INDEED; APCHING THE CORRECT RWY. TAKE-AWAYS: 1) BOTH TWR AND THE PLT NEED TO RECOGNIZE THAT IT'S MUCH EASIER TO FIND A RWY AT NIGHT AT A LARGE ARPT SUCH AS THIS WHEN ONE IS ALIGNED WITH THE EXTENDED CTRLINE OF THE RWY. THEN; YOU SEE THE APCH LIGHTS; THE RWY END LIGHTS; AND THE LIGHTS ALONG THE SIDES OF THE RWY (AND CTRLINE LIGHTS; IF ANY). VIEWING THE RWY FROM A DIAGONAL; YOU JUST DON'T SEE MANY OF THOSE LIGHTS; AND IT'S DIFFICULT TO PICK THE RWY OUT OF THE SEA OF LIGHTS ON SURFACE OF A LARGE ARPT. DURING OUR INITIAL APCH TO RWY 15L; TWR SHOULD HAVE POSITIONED US FARTHER OUT FROM THE RWY; AND GIVEN US A CHANCE TO FIND THE RWY FROM THE EXTENDED CTRLINE POS BEFORE CLBING US AND VECTORING US TO RWY 33R. 2) WHEN WE WERE FIRST VECTORED DOWNWIND FOR RWY 33R; WE WERE TOO CLOSE TO THE RWY AND TOO HIGH. AS A RESULT; I LOST SIGHT OF THE RWY (IT WAS BELOW THE BOTTOM OF THE WINDOWS ON THE R SIDE OF THE COCKPIT). THEN WHEN WE WERE VECTORED TO THE BASE LEG; WE WERE ALSO TOO CLOSE TO THE RWY AND TOO HIGH. TWR SHOULD HAVE KEPT US FARTHER OUT ON DOWNWIND AND NOT TURNED US TO BASE SO SOON; AND I SHOULDN'T HAVE ACCEPTED THE VECTOR TO BASE WITHOUT FIRST KNOWING WHERE THE RWY WAS. 3) IN A SITUATION SUCH AS THIS; AT NIGHT; AT A LARGE AND UNFAMILIAR ARPT; THE PLT MUST NEVER MAKE ANY ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT WHICH RWY IS WHICH. NEED TO HAVE POSITIVE VERIFICATION. ON OUR FIRST ATTEMPT AT LNDG ON RWY 33R; I SAW ONLY 1 OF THE 2 PARALLEL RWYS; AND I FAILED TO VERIFY WITH TWR WHICH ONE I WAS LOOKING AT. 4) IF I HAD DIALED IN THE RWY 33R LOC BEFORE OUR FIRST APCH TO THAT RWY; IT WOULD HAVE HELPED LOCATE THE RWY AS I TURNED BASE TO FINAL. INDEED; THE RWY 33R LOC BACK COURSE WOULD HAVE HELPED ME IDENT RWY 15L IN TIME TO LAND ON THAT RWY WHEN WE FIRST APCHED THE ARPT. EVEN IN VFR CONDITIONS; AT AN UNFAMILIAR ARPT; ONE SHOULD USE ALL THE TOOLS AT ONE'S DISPOSAL. TWR PROBABLY ASSUMED THAT I DIDN'T NEED THE LOC; AND THUS DIDN'T MENTION IT UNTIL OUR SECOND APCH TO RWY 33R.