AA5 pilot reports an airborne conflict with a glider at 4;000 feet inside the gamecock I MOA while o...

Attributes
ACN	1171377
Time
Date	201405
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	SSC.TRACON
State Reference	SC
Environment
Flight Conditions	Mixed
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Cheetah Tiger Traveler AA5 Series
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	Direct
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Instrument
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 36 Flight Crew Total 1646 Flight Crew Type 958
Events
Anomaly	Conflict Airborne Conflict
Miss Distance	Horizontal 500 Vertical 10

Narrative:

On IFR flight plan; cruise configuration at 4;000 feet MSL in contact with shaw TRACON. Glider appeared off my left wing from above and within 500 feet. Don't know if glider pilot could see me under and below his wing - also in my blind spot due to canopy. I can't see an aircraft descending from above. Asked approach controller if the glider was indicated on radar. Got response from trainee controller that no aircraft was on radar near me - supervisor controller responded that glider operations in the gamecock I MOA all week - information provided via NOTAM for area. Supervisor controller informed me I should have NOTAM and should be looking for gliders. I did not respond on frequency but instead contacted the shaw TRACON oic the following monday and asked that they review this as a safety event. Gliders are difficult to see and are not required to contact the airspace controlling agency (operating inside MOA). These aircraft should operate transponder even if VFR to increase overall safety of all aircraft.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AA5 pilot reports an airborne conflict with a glider at 4;000 feet inside the Gamecock I MOA while on an IFR flight plan. The glider was not talking to ATC; had no transponder and was not visible on Radar.

Narrative: On IFR flight plan; cruise configuration at 4;000 feet MSL in contact with SHAW TRACON. Glider appeared off my left wing from above and within 500 feet. Don't know if glider pilot could see me under and below his wing - also in my blind spot due to canopy. I can't see an aircraft descending from above. Asked Approach Controller if the glider was indicated on radar. Got response from trainee Controller that no aircraft was on radar near me - Supervisor Controller responded that glider operations in the GAMECOCK I MOA all week - information provided via NOTAM for area. Supervisor Controller informed me I should have NOTAM and should be looking for gliders. I did not respond on frequency but instead contacted the SHAW TRACON OIC the following Monday and asked that they review this as a safety event. Gliders are difficult to see and are not required to contact the airspace controlling agency (operating inside MOA). These aircraft should operate transponder even if VFR to increase overall safety of all aircraft.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

AA5 pilot reports an airborne conflict with a glider at 4;000 feet inside the gamecock I MOA while on an IFR flight plan. The glider was not talking to ATC; had no transponder and was not visible on radar.