A PITTS S-2B IN THE TFC PATTERN AT APA HAD AN NMAC WITH A CESSNA.

Narrative

I WAS IN THE PATTERN FOR RWY 17R AT APA ARPT PRACTICING TOUCH-AND-GOES. NUMEROUS OTHER ACFT; MOSTLY CESSNAS; JOINED AND LEFT THE PATTERN DURING THIS PERIOD. WHILE ON UPWIND AFTER A TOUCH-AND-GO; I HEARD THE TWR CTLR INSTRUCT A CESSNA TO BEGIN HIS XWIND TURN; AS THERE WAS TFC BEHIND HIM. AT THIS POINT; I BELIEVED THAT THERE WAS ONLY ONE OTHER ACFT IN THE PATTERN FOR RWY 17R; AND THAT THE 'TFC' IN QUESTION WAS ME. DUE TO THE STEEP CLB ANGLE OF THE S-2B; MY FORWARD VISIBILITY WAS EXTREMELY LIMITED; AND I WAS RELUCTANT TO PERFORM S-TURNS DUE TO THE CLOSE PROX OF RWY 17L ON MY L SIDE AND POTENTIAL TFC ON DOWNWINDS ON MY R SIDE (R-HAND TFC WAS IN USE FOR RWY 17R). I OBSERVED A CESSNA PASSING MY 3 O'CLOCK POS ON ITS DOWNWIND LEG AS I REACHED 1200 FT AGL ON THE UPWIND LEG. I LEVELED OFF AT 7000 FT MSL (1200 FT AGL) AND CONTINUED TO FLY UPWIND FOR ANOTHER 10-15 SECONDS TO ALLOW ADEQUATE SPACING BEHIND THE SLOWER CESSNA. I THEN TURNED XWIND; AND A FEW SECONDS LATER THE TWR CTLR ADVISED THAT I HAD CUT OFF MY CESSNA TFC; AND ASKED IF I HAD THAT TFC IN SIGHT. AFTER A BRIEF SCAN OUT THE L SIDE OF THE CANOPY; I REPLIED THAT I DID NOT HAVE THE TFC IN SIGHT AND ASKED THE CTLR WHAT HE WANTED ME TO DO. HE REPLIED THAT I SHOULD CONTINUE TO FLY WBOUND. I DID SO; AND WENT TO FULL THROTTLE IN ORDER TO CLR THE CONFLICT AREA MORE QUICKLY. A SECOND OR 2 LATER; I SPOTTED THE CESSNA TFC AT APPROX MY 9:30 O'CLOCK POS; PERHAPS 150 FT LOWER. I APPLIED A 3G 'PULL' ON THE STICK; AND THE CESSNA PASSED WELL BELOW AND BEHIND ME. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS: LOSS OF SITUATIONAL AWARENESS AS VARIOUS ACFT JOINED AND LEFT THE TFC PATTERN. LIMITED VISIBILITY IN THE S-2B DURING CLB. PERFORMANCE MISMATCH BTWN THE PITTS AND THE CESSNAS. LACK OF ROOM FOR S-TURNS.