Near Miss Shepparton

[ZAZ]

If you read this, the pilot of the Agplane heading 330 that crossed the track of the PA28 yesterday 7th Nov at 01:15 UTC tracking 242 SHT to BDG you are one lucky SOB.

No we are both lucky
To be alive.

I caught you in my peripheral visions at 10 oclock and 10 degrees high comig right at me.
large in size Blue and yellow long nose, could not see cockpit angle to high.
I was at 2100 climbing andyou maybe 2300 2400

All surealistic really, I dropped my nose wagged my wings and your shadow went over my head.


called on 121.1 CTAfs 118.8 CTAF and on area.



Lowest common denominators.

I had just done a 2 hour flight test and due to weather decided to vo VFR.
In this case it was strong winds turbulance and I needed to get home low and fast get to get to a fellow pilots funeral.
The flight nearly became my own.



responsibility to see and be seen.



As I sat in church yesterday at the service and listened to an instructors eulogy and the picture show of my friends flying career, looked at the coffin and the several hundred people attending I had this terrible feeling that...
no matter how many hours you fly or how good a pilot you think you are...
just how bad it is to die in a plane crash.

Can but imagine had we had a mid air in the week of three funerals of aviators of the effect on our fellow airmen.
Thanks God for the wake up call..



I am not even sure this scuttle web is the place to put this event.
I have filed a near miss report.
FWIW.
All too little too late IMO.
I took my eye off the ball had get home itis, cancelled my IFR plan and turned my back on Air Services radar and the so called protection margin it gives us.
And failed in my scan from horizon left to horizon right.
If I had stayed IFR I might have got the traffic as immediate traffic closing on me, but I chose to go VFR in the see and be seen territory and nearly did not see the plane approaching at right angles.
Im not sure how you are supposed to see a plane on your far left quarter coming at you at your left wing at 200km/h, but I did and we missed.


Safe flying stay sharp walk softly.

PPL
5000 hours
25th IFR renewal.
Still an old pilot (just).