BE33 pilot reports a near midair collision in the traffic pattern at pdk.

Attributes
ACN	1056857
Time
Date	201212
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	PDK.Airport
State Reference	GA
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Dusk
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Bonanza 33
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Descent
Flight Plan	None
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Small Aircraft
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Climb
Person 1
Function	Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Instrument
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 27 Flight Crew Total 6355 Flight Crew Type 4600
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Conflict NMAC
Miss Distance	Horizontal 400 Vertical 0

Narrative:

I had just gone over the top of atl; having been cleared VFR through class B. About 5 miles southwest of pdk; approach control handed me off to pdk tower. Tower advised me 1) to enter right downwind for runway 20R and 2) 12 o'clock opposite direction waco at 2;000 ft MSL. I slowed my descent to 2;300 ft MSL. Tower advised traffic had passed below on my right side. On resuming descent; I first saw the waco at my 3 o'clock position; same altitude. Pdk tower advised a cessna climbing (I surmised right cross wind after departing runway 20R) to follow me on the right downwind. Simultaneously; my garmin 530 displayed traffic alert at my 3 o'clock; 100 ft lower. I never saw the cessna. The waco never showed on the garmin 530's traffic advisory. I surmise waco was not mode C. I also surmise that the tower controller misidentified the cessna as the waco on radar scope. Why was the waco flying opposite direction on the downwind? Was the tower controller as badly confused as I think? I had pulsing landing light 'on'; plus five strobes. This was a scary dumb near-miss.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: BE33 pilot reports a NMAC in the traffic pattern at PDK.

Narrative: I had just gone over the top of ATL; having been cleared VFR through Class B. About 5 miles southwest of PDK; Approach Control handed me off to PDK Tower. Tower advised me 1) to enter right downwind for Runway 20R and 2) 12 o'clock opposite direction Waco at 2;000 FT MSL. I slowed my descent to 2;300 FT MSL. Tower advised traffic had passed below on my right side. On resuming descent; I first saw the Waco at my 3 o'clock position; same altitude. PDK Tower advised a Cessna climbing (I surmised right cross wind after departing Runway 20R) to follow me on the right downwind. Simultaneously; my Garmin 530 displayed traffic alert at my 3 o'clock; 100 FT lower. I never saw the Cessna. The Waco never showed on the Garmin 530's traffic advisory. I surmise Waco was not Mode C. I also surmise that the Tower Controller misidentified the Cessna as the Waco on radar scope. Why was the Waco flying opposite direction on the downwind? Was the Tower Controller as badly confused as I think? I had pulsing landing light 'On'; plus five strobes. This was a scary dumb near-miss.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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.