I was orbiting the sprint-car track in Calistoga in a 126, near the airport, just watching the cars go round and round, trying to loose altitude to enter the pattern, and doing my normal scans, instruments, flightpath, ground or observation target, and on one scan looked up and
SAW the gliderport's towplane, Schweickert 232 on tow. Unfortunatately, the collision seemed imminenent to
me but I tried flipping inverted and spinning down fast. Once I go rightside up and entered the pattern, just a hair low and pretty fast actually, the tow-plane and glider were long gone, I was shaking like a leaf, and, unfortunately, swearing a blue streak over the CTAF about tow pilots who don't watch where they're going etc etc. When I finally unkeyed the mike to turn base, my CFI got on, told me to be very quiet from then on till I landed and no more swearing EVER. What can I say, I was 14...
I managed to put the glider down and get it into it's parking spot normally, and went into the "line shack" to do my logbook etc etc. The CFI took me out back and returned my swearing streak at me, even adding more than a few new words I made note of. I was actually a little afraid he was actually going to take a swing at me once or twice... He finished with a good swagger stick to the back or the skull (a favorite tactic of his, espescially in the cockpit), the gist of which convinced me NOT to swear on the radio. EVER. Or my flying days were over.
He finally wound down (thankfully!) and told me he understood, but next time leave the words off the radio. By then the tow pilot had come in, I felt about a 1/2 inch tall, and he started in on me. For swearing over the radio. After my CFI explained to him just how close the close call had been, (and he had never even seen me!)
HE obviously felt pretty small for yelling at me, and then, realizing what might have happened, he turned white as a sheet and went home for the day, and I understand he drank for the next two days. Needless to say even I got a day or two off also, but I was tooooo young to even try to drink. Even beer. I did a lot of sitting and staring at nothing, and then right back to the gliderport, working and flying as usual again
I wore the parachute in the 126 good n tight after that!
Pat☺
by Hagar » Sat Aug 02, 2014 4:13 am 
Re: Lucky escape
...!
