Sail Plane
Flight Crew Private
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 36; Flight Crew Total 3900; Flight Crew Type 1396
Situational Awareness
Airspace Violation All Types; Conflict NMAC; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Flight Crew Became Reoriented
Human Factors; Aircraft
I conducted a personal recreational flight in my glider for a duration of approximately 2:20. Almost all of the flight took place on the Sierras crest line NW to SW of Inyokern airport between 6500 and 8500 msl. Near the end of the flight I decided to 'glide off' my remaining altitude by flying ESE bound to the west side or Ridgecrest; make a 180 degree turn and return home into the pattern at Inyokern for landing. While flying a 110 degree heading about 2nm south of Inyokern; I contacted Joshua Approach  133.85 to ask about the status of R2506 (a south extending appendage of the larger R2505 China Lake restricted area). The controller informed me that R2506 was open for use. My expectation was to glide a short distance into R2506 and then turn around returning home. At about a 5nm and 115 degree radial from Inyokern I heard a roar of jet engines and was immediately surprised to see a Fighter type jet pass directly under me (estimated 150 feet) heading southbound at around 250 knots. After this encounter; I inspected my moving map display and noticed that I had actually skimmed slightly into R2505 (0.45 nm for 2.66 nm -- 3 minutes) and had just exited into R2506 at the time of the near mid air. Subsequent analysis also showed that I had come very close to the China Lake NAS Based Class D airspace. The radius of the airspace is 4.5 nm and I had reached into it by 0.25 nm and descended to within 20feet of the 4800msl top. Considerations about the airspace violation: 1) I had assumed that my ESE progress would have cleared the south boundary of R2505 2) My flight display although quite bright; is still difficult to see with sun reflections in the cockpit. Therefore I did not notice the east-west boundary of R2505 on my moving map display 3) The controller at Joshua Approach did not make radar contact probably because I did not have a transponder and my primary target is difficult to discern. Considerations about the near mid air: 1) My unintentional entry into R2505 airspace was not a factor contributing to the near mid air 2) I did not see a PCAS indication from the Fighter transponder on my display (NOTE: system is a non-certificated collision advisory system for gliders used world wide. It also listens for the MODE C; MODE S and ADS-B 1090ES transmissions. Mode C and Mode S targets will give a circle estimated range and warning when close to targets. ADS-B 1090ES targets are tracked and deliver a full FLARM collision advisory). This raises the question as to whether the fighter's transponder was operational. Lessons learned include: 1) Pay closer attention to moving map display indications near restricted airspace. Don't let 'pre-conceived' notions of your location prevail. 2) I probably should have switched to the China Lake CT frequency 120.15 and asked about high speed traffic in the area. During the entire duration of this encounter I was monitoring Inyokern UNICON 122.8.
A glider pilot inadvertently entered restricted airspace and experienced a near-mid-air-collision with a high performance military aircraft. The lack of a transponder may not have allowed ATC to recognize that the pilot was off the expected route.