Narrative:

Surface wind from sse 3 knots bxn 25000. Some haze due to agricultural fires; viz >10; but smoke drifting across the mid and southern end of the pattern - not significantly restrictive to vision; but unpleasant to breath.approaching from northwest at 3W 3000 announced on unicom intention; traffic permitting; enter rh base 16. My aircraft had strobes; beacon and high-intensity wingtip pulse lights (all on).instructor on ground in piper with student preparing for flight mid-field replied that 'looked good to him; as no one in pattern and they would be another 5 minutes'.called '1.5 m rb 16 2200; planning long landing' (to allow the piper to back-taxi if they were ready).another aircraft; a C150; then called 'entering downwind.'I looked to downwind and saw nothing.called C150 asked 'what is your position?'reply: 'just departed the runway and am turning downwind.'not seeing him on the expected 16 rh crosswind asked 'what runway did you depart from?'reply: '34'i banked sharply away from base to the north; belatedly looking for an aircraft about in my position.as the wing came up I saw a C150 turning 34 lh crosswind to downwind less than 50 feet horizontally and less than a wingspan above my altitude.we were turning away from each other. I called 'have C150 turning downwind 34 in sight - do you have me 16 base?'he replied; 'no; but am looking.'I advised him that I was now at his 8 o'clock; not a factor.landed 16 and cleared at the first exit; next to the piper as the C150 continued in pattern for 34. The piper decided to hold; and so advised the C150.the C150 landed 34 and attempted to make the first turnout as was evident by the smoke coming from what must have been locked mains. Sliding past the turnout; he made a 180 so the piper could take the runway.the instructor with the student on the ground was unaware of the C150 until the 'turning downwind' call. It is possible that the C150 - based on the landing I observed - had waved off from a first approach and was never low enough for the ip to be aware of. This would also fit with his being at pattern altitude on 34 crosswind about 3/4 mile north of the field (remarkable performance for a C150). All speculation.the C150 was a transient aircraft flown by pilot who had not briefed properly as to the traffic flow at ZZZ (16 being the calm wind runway). As I had been listening since 10 miles out; also do not believe he had made any calls until 'entering downwind' in response to my second call.my own flying was not optimal. Given the mid-field smoke; it may have been better to have made a straight-in to 16; for then I could have seen traffic on either 16 or 34. However; do not like straight-in approaches; and did not want to fly in the thin; but pungent; smoke - thus chose; and announced the rb entry.I was lulled into a lack of vigilance by it being early on a [weekend] at my rural home field when little traffic was expected and which expectation had mistakenly been confirmed by another based aircraft.when I became aware of another aircraft near the airport I made the serious error of looking where I expected it to be based upon his ambiguous radio call; not; as I should have; to first see if there was any immediate threat in the vicinity of my aircraft.that was a near-fatal error.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A general aviation pilot reported a near mid air collision in the pattern of an uncontrolled airport.

Narrative: Surface wind from SSE 3 knots BXN 25000. Some haze due to agricultural fires; viz >10; but smoke drifting across the mid and southern end of the pattern - not significantly restrictive to vision; but unpleasant to breath.Approaching from NW at 3W 3000 announced on UNICOM intention; traffic permitting; enter RH Base 16. My aircraft had strobes; beacon and high-intensity wingtip pulse lights (all on).Instructor on ground in Piper with student preparing for flight mid-field replied that 'Looked good to him; as no one in pattern and they would be another 5 minutes'.Called '1.5 m RB 16 2200; planning long landing' (to allow the Piper to back-taxi if they were ready).Another aircraft; a C150; then called 'Entering Downwind.'I looked to downwind and saw nothing.Called C150 asked 'What is your position?'Reply: 'Just departed the runway and am turning downwind.'Not seeing him on the expected 16 RH XWIND asked 'What runway did you depart from?'Reply: '34'I banked sharply away from base to the north; belatedly looking for an aircraft about in my position.As the wing came up I saw a C150 turning 34 LH XWIND to Downwind less than 50 feet horizontally and less than a wingspan above my altitude.We were turning away from each other. I called 'Have C150 turning downwind 34 in sight - do you have me 16 Base?'He replied; 'No; but am looking.'I advised him that I was now at his 8 o'clock; not a factor.Landed 16 and cleared at the first exit; next to the Piper as the C150 continued in pattern for 34. The Piper decided to hold; and so advised the C150.The C150 landed 34 and attempted to make the first turnout as was evident by the smoke coming from what must have been locked mains. Sliding past the turnout; he made a 180 so the Piper could take the runway.The instructor with the student on the ground was unaware of the C150 until the 'turning downwind' call. It is possible that the C150 - based on the landing I observed - had waved off from a first approach and was never low enough for the IP to be aware of. This would also fit with his being at pattern altitude on 34 XWIND about 3/4 mile N of the field (remarkable performance for a C150). All Speculation.The C150 was a transient aircraft flown by pilot who had not briefed properly as to the traffic flow at ZZZ (16 Being the Calm Wind Runway). As I had been listening since 10 miles out; also do not believe he had made any calls until 'entering downwind' in response to my second call.My own flying was not optimal. Given the mid-field smoke; it may have been better to have made a straight-in to 16; for then I could have seen traffic on either 16 or 34. However; do not like straight-in approaches; and did not want to fly in the thin; but pungent; smoke - thus chose; and announced the RB entry.I was lulled into a lack of vigilance by it being early on a [weekend] at my rural home field when little traffic was expected and which expectation had mistakenly been confirmed by another based aircraft.When I became aware of another aircraft near the airport I made the serious error of looking where I expected it to be based upon his ambiguous radio call; not; as I should have; to first see if there was any immediate threat in the vicinity of my aircraft.That was a near-fatal error.

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.