On Friday, May 10, 2019 at 11:47:45 AM UTC-5, wrote:
The Transponder chatter on other threads got me to thinking about who’s got the closest near-miss? Thought I’d kick it off with my incident over 40 years ago. I was flying my homebuilt wooden sailplane over Mono Lake, Ca. Cursing south at 16000’ and 60 knots when I spotted a 4 engine jet below and to my left. Our flight paths were going to intersect, but he was a good 500 feet below me. Two seconds later it became crystal clear that it wasn’t a 4 engine jet, it was a 4 pod jet with 8 engines and the B-52 was climbing fast! Too late for me to maneuver,I’m doing 60 and he’s doing maybe 360, and I didn’t want to throw my belly to him. I just sat there thinking I had a front row seat to my demise! As he passed just under my nose, I could clearly see the copilot reading his checklist! I’m sure they never saw me, but I sure as hell saw them! I figured the wake turbulence was going to tear my little Duster to bits, so I tightened up my parachute straps. Nothing! Guess the turbulence all went below and behind him. How far can you see a man reading a book? I’ll lay claim at 50 Feet!
Let’s hear your story,
JJ

I number of years ago, I was flying a K-8 southbound from Stanton MN to Dodge Center at about 8,000 ft. During the flight there were a couple of C-130s heading south about 3,000 ft below us. The gliders in the area where discussing this on the radio, and the other aircraft were not a factor.

An hour or so later, I was headed northbound back to Stanton, and I could hear the C-130s coming up right behind me. I didn't know what to do. I contemplated doing a sharp 90 degree turn to make myself more visible, but I was concerned that if I did an abrupt maneuver like that, I might actually create a collision. I finally decided just to keep flying straight to minimize my cross section and limit the potential for a collision.

Sure enough, 30 seconds later, I saw the C-130s less than 1,000' banking off my right wing tip at my exact altitude. They apparently saw me and were flying around me.

I now fly a Phoenix Motorglider with ADS-B IN and OUT. It is absolutely amazing how much traffic is out there that you absolutely can not see, even when you know EXACTLY where to look and the other aircraft is less than a mile away. See and avoid does not work reliably in the real world. We need every aircraft to be ADS-B equipped. That's ultimately the solution to get rid of mid-airs.