Cozy pilot experiences a near midair collision entering the lgb pattern with a glasair after a late ...

Narrative:

Chain of events: cozy was turning from 45 degree entry onto the downwind as directed by lgb tower at 1;100 ft. Tower called traffic at my 11 o'clock and a half mile (0.5 mile). I looked and the glasair was directly in front of me at my altitude plus 10-20 ft; flying perpendicular to my path. There was no time to take evasive action. I responded that I had the traffic in sight and the tower responded 'sorry about that'. I do not know if the glasair was on frequency as it never spoke on the frequency but I assume it was because the tower apologized and did not chastise the glasair.contributing factors: cozy canard blocks traffic slightly below the pilot at the 10:30 and 2:30 positions. In a turn the canard can also block traffic that is slightly higher than the cozy. In addition; the glasair was flying a non-standard pattern directly across the point where the turn to downwind occurs and the glasair was at pattern altitude.corrective actions: fly a standard pattern and/or fly above the traffic pattern when crossing it. The only direction open to the cozy at the time was a descent but that would have only changed the cozy's altitude by 10-20 ft in the limited time available.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Cozy pilot experiences a NMAC entering the LGB pattern with a Glasair after a late traffic call by the Tower. Cozy canard blocked view of conflicting traffic during turn to downwind.

Narrative: Chain of events: Cozy was turning from 45 degree entry onto the downwind as directed by LGB Tower at 1;100 FT. Tower called traffic at my 11 o'clock and a half mile (0.5 mile). I looked and the Glasair was directly in front of me at my altitude plus 10-20 FT; flying perpendicular to my path. There was no time to take evasive action. I responded that I had the traffic in sight and the Tower responded 'sorry about that'. I do not know if the Glasair was on frequency as it never spoke on the frequency but I assume it was because the Tower apologized and did not chastise the Glasair.Contributing factors: Cozy canard blocks traffic slightly below the pilot at the 10:30 and 2:30 positions. In a turn the canard can also block traffic that is slightly higher than the Cozy. In addition; the Glasair was flying a non-standard pattern directly across the point where the turn to downwind occurs and the Glasair was at pattern altitude.Corrective actions: Fly a standard pattern and/or fly above the traffic pattern when crossing it. The only direction open to the Cozy at the time was a descent but that would have only changed the Cozy's altitude by 10-20 FT in the limited time available.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.

Attributes
ACN	913543
Time
Date	201010
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	LGB.Tower
State Reference	CA
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Experimental
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Landing
Route In Use	None
Flight Plan	None
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Experimental
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Flight Instructor
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 5 Flight Crew Total 2600 Flight Crew Type 400
Events
Anomaly	Conflict NMAC
Miss Distance	Horizontal 250 Vertical 20

Cozy pilot experiences a near midair collision entering the lgb pattern with a glasair after a late traffic call by the tower. Cozy canard blocked view of conflicting traffic during turn to downwind.