NMAC BTWN OPPOSITE DIRECTION TFC.

Narrative

MY ACFT WAS ENRTE FROM KCCR TO KTVL; VFR; MY ACFT WAS CLBING 1000-1500 FPM AT 160 KIAS. STROBE AND RECOGNITION LIGHTS WERE ON. I HAD A REQUEST WITH TRAVIS APCH FOR FLT FOLLOWING; BUT IT WAS NOT RECEIVED. THE OTHER ACFT WAS FIRST SEEN AT MY 11 O'CLOCK; CLOSE ENOUGH TO REQUIRE IMMEDIATE ACTION. THE OTHER ACFT WAS A GRAY SMA FLYING SW IN LEVEL FLT. MY ACFT WAS IN HIS 2 O'CLOCK POS. I TOOK CTL OF THE AIRPLANE; PUTTING IT IN A 45 DEG L BANK. I DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO ANNOUNCE I TOOK THE AIRPLANE FROM THE FO. THE OTHER ACFT DIDN'T CHANGE COURSE. IT IS ASSUMED NEITHER ACFT HAD FLT FOLLOWING. THE SMA WAS NOT HEARD ON THE TRAVIS FREQ. NORMALLY I FLY IFR; INCLUDING DEPS AND ARRS. THIS TIME I MADE AN EXCEPTION; WITH THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF THE FO. TO THIS EXTENT I FAILED IN JUDGEMENT AND LIMITED A MARGIN OF SAFETY IN A HIGH PERFORMANCE AIRPLANE. IT IS MY THOUGHT TO USE PART 135/121 AS A GUIDE TO OP STANDARDS. THE L WINDSHIELD POST COULD HAVE BLOCKED MY VIEW OF THE OTHER ACFT. MY ACFT; AN SMT; IS HARD TO LOOK AROUND POSTS DUE TO LIMITED HEAD ROOM WHILE LEANING FORWARD. AN SMT Z WAS MUCH BETTER; EVEN WITH SMALLER WINDOWS. THE PF HAS A TENDENCY TO SPEND TOO MUCH TIME INSIDE THE COCKPIT UNDER SIMILAR FLT CONDITIONS. ALTHOUGH NOT A FACTOR; THIS SIT IS WHY I NORMALLY SAVE THE AFTER TKOF CHKLIST TO AFTER LEVEL OFF OR 10000 FT. BASICALLY; THIS SIT WOULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED IF I HAD MAINTAINED MY OWN STANDARDS AND MADE THE TRIP UNDER IFR. THIS IS ANOTHER FORM OF 'GET THEREITIS.'