Local Bimble, Almost (Not) a Near-miss
Was up for a bimble a few weeks ago, came back to join and on crosswind spotted another a/c on the downwind leg (Looked a bit like a Cub) but it was going the wrong way. I had the telltale 'fixed and growing in the windscreen' so took early avoiding action. My first concern was that it was going the wrong way on our downwind leg, and should I have continued my circuit I would have hit him on the downwind corner. The guys on the ground saw it and asked me if I saw the reg on the a/c. I gave them a negative, used extra vigilance (Although he wasn't on the radio I had visions of him using the circuit for the opposite runway due to it being late in the day, hardly anyone about and zero wind with the sun very awkward on the runway in use), I didn't want to meet him again on the ground and kept an eye on him whilst carrying on with my now defunct circuit.
He disappeared into the sun and I made an uneventful landing. After said landing, one of the club's most experienced pilots (16,000hrs+) confirmed that he was the one who asked if I caught the reg as he was going to report him. I wasn't going to argue, as I have only just celebrated my 100th hour, but my first thought was 'isn't that a bit harsh?' If VFR and flying into the sun it can be difficult to navigate, as we all know. I know it could have been fatal, but it wasn't, and we've all been lost at some point or another. It wasn't a close call, he was a long way off me. A good mile or two, at least.
Am I wrong? What's your thoughts?