Near Mid Air Collisions
Ok I will start of with an incident that scared me. I was flying in a glider in a thermal at about 2000ft (cloudbase 2500ft). When I straightened up to leave the thermal a single engined retractable passed about 20ft over my canopy going is the opposite direction. Although I thought I was keeping a good lookout I didnt see him until it was far too late to take avoiding action.
A glider circling alternately presents a plan form then a head on view to someone approaching at the same height. Thus easy to see and nearly impossible. The powered aircraft gave no indication of ever seeing me.
Lookout in a glider is easier because of the large canopy and the seating position in front of the wings. In a typical powered aircraft you are restricted by a high instrument panel and an engine out front so the view in the cruise at the same level or slightly lower is very restricted. However none of this helps if no one is looking out. With the plethora of gadgets in modern aircraft this basic skill is being lost.