Sail Plane
Flight Crew Commercial; Flight Crew Flight Instructor; Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Instrument
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 150; Flight Crew Total 1410; Flight Crew Type 3
Communication Breakdown; Confusion; Training / Qualification; Situational Awareness
Conflict NMAC
Flight Crew Took Evasive Action
Aircraft; Human Factors; Procedure
On my second solo glider flight (adding a glider rating to my pilot's certificate) the tow plane pilot initiated a steep continuous left turn. Due to the steepness of the turn; our flight path was closer to the runway than on my previous training flights. I gradually deviated from tow position to the right (to the outside of the turn). The tow pilot continued banking and turning left. I tried returning to tow position. At some point; the tow plane was ahead and to my left with some slack between us that I tried to take out by yawing and slight use of the airbrakes. A second or two after I retracted the airbrakes; the tow line was released. I leveled my wings and watched my airspeed and the tow plane. The tow plane was turning to the right and was on a collision course with me. I pulled the nose to gain altitude and the tow plane passed under me and departed the area.Approach and landing: at this point; I was about a 1/4 mile from the runway threshold and about 30 degrees south of centerline; pointing south at about 350 ft. above field elevation. I turned left towards the runway; but I felt I was too high and too close to continue a direct path to the threshold; as I was worried I'd land very long or have an abnormal descent rate with full spoilers close to the ground. I elected to continue my left turn slightly away from the extended centerline. When I crossed the centerline I was still too high and I turned right. I ended up north of centerline abeam the threshold pointing south; on a tight left base-to-final turn above tree top level to touch down approximately a third to a half down the runway and made a full stop short of the road.No radio calls or signals were made throughout the flight; both before and after tow release.Likely cause of the occurrence: the tow pilot's steeper than normal left turn was difficult for me to keep up with. I was off tow position causing the tow pilot to turn to the left. The inputs I was making to correct for the abnormal tow position were not correcting back to appropriate tow position. Possibly a more aggressive and immediate correction as well as more aggressive use of spoilers would have resulted in return to normal tow position. I was surprised by how quickly the deviation from normal tow position progressed. I was surprised by the rope release because I thought the situation was still recoverable. I initially thought the line had broken because of my spoiler use; and only after landing I realized the tow pilot had released the rope. The cause for the near miss after the tow release was the tow pilot's failure to scan the area. After the flight he said he was unaware of my position after releasing the tow line. The tow plane's high wing may have created a blind spot for him as I was to his right and he was banking right.
Student Glider Pilot encountered a Near Mid-Air Collision with tow aircraft.