Narrative:

I was cleared to land as number 1 on runway 16R on my downwind leg. The controller then cleared another aircraft for a straight in approach to 16R as number 2 behind me. It's possible he was on an ILS approach; I don't remember his instructions.after passing the runway threshold; I began a controlled descent. I've been working toward an instrument rating; so when practicing landings at kpae field; I pay close attention to my RPM; altitude; airspeed; rate of descent and height AGL at which I begin my base and final turns. I was flying VFR; but paying attention to these factors.my downwind may have been a little longer than normal because I was watching rate of descent and AGL at which I begin by base. I was still south of the shoreline so this is not unreasonable at kpae. When I turned base and looked up; the plane that was supposed to be number 2 behind me was at my 11 o'clock position at it was clear we would both arrive on final at nearly the same time. I believe I was just slightly lower; but that was irrelevant at this point. The controller asked if I had visual and I acknowledged and said I would turn final (which would have put me just slightly in front; but I decided at this time that what I was actually going to do was turn on a final heading but position myself 100+ feet to the right of the final approach course so I would essentially be flying parallel to the other aircraft. As I was doing this the controller asked that I continue my turn a full 180 degrees and head west and then re-enter the pattern for another approach.the other aircraft and I had each other in sight and I did not feel like this was a dangerous situation; but if we had not seen each other for another 3 or 4 seconds it could have been a problem. I believe we came within 300 feet of one another.a few factors contributed to this situation:1) the controller who cleared me is actually a very good controller who I've been in communication with on several previous visits to kpae. I think in this case he relied on us to maintain visual separation; although he did not (to my recollection) ask us to report visual contact. I think he was expecting me to make my base turn earlier; but he probably should have seen my position on radar and asked me to let the other plane go first.2) because I've been practicing skills that require that I spend more time looking at my instruments; I was late to see the other aircraft.3) the other aircraft knowing they were number 2 for landing should have been looking for me in front of them and should have reported when they did not see anyone ahead of them on final.overall I did not feel this was a particularly dangerous situation; but our aircraft were closer than they should have been. I wanted to report in case others felt it was more serious than I.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C172 pilot reported a NMAC with another aircraft on approach to PAE airport.

Narrative: I was cleared to land as Number 1 on Runway 16R on my downwind leg. The controller then cleared another aircraft for a straight in approach to 16R as Number 2 behind me. It's possible he was on an ILS approach; I don't remember his instructions.After passing the runway threshold; I began a controlled descent. I've been working toward an instrument rating; so when practicing landings at KPAE field; I pay close attention to my RPM; altitude; airspeed; rate of descent and height AGL at which I begin my base and final turns. I was flying VFR; but paying attention to these factors.My downwind may have been a little longer than normal because I was watching rate of descent and AGL at which I begin by base. I was still south of the shoreline so this is not unreasonable at KPAE. When I turned base and looked up; the plane that was supposed to be Number 2 behind me was at my 11 o'clock position at it was clear we would both arrive on final at nearly the same time. I believe I was just slightly lower; but that was irrelevant at this point. The controller asked if I had visual and I acknowledged and said I would turn final (which would have put me just slightly in front; but I decided at this time that what I was actually going to do was turn on a final heading but position myself 100+ feet to the right of the final approach course so I would essentially be flying parallel to the other aircraft. As I was doing this the controller asked that I continue my turn a full 180 degrees and head west and then re-enter the pattern for another approach.The other aircraft and I had each other in sight and I did not feel like this was a dangerous situation; but if we had not seen each other for another 3 or 4 seconds it could have been a problem. I believe we came within 300 feet of one another.A few factors contributed to this situation:1) The controller who cleared me is actually a very good controller who I've been in communication with on several previous visits to KPAE. I think in this case he relied on us to maintain visual separation; although he did not (to my recollection) ask us to report visual contact. I think he was expecting me to make my base turn earlier; but he probably should have seen my position on radar and asked me to let the other plane go first.2) Because I've been practicing skills that require that I spend more time looking at my instruments; I was late to see the other aircraft.3) The other aircraft knowing they were Number 2 for landing should have been looking for me in front of them and should have reported when they did not see anyone ahead of them on final.Overall I did not feel this was a particularly dangerous situation; but our aircraft were closer than they should have been. I wanted to report in case others felt it was more serious than I.

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.