NMAC BTWN A BEECH 18 ON FINAL AND A BEECH BARON PASSING ON THE L ON FINAL TO A CTLED ARPT.

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ON AUG/XA/99; I WAS OPERATING A BEECHCRAFT 18; VFR; WITHOUT A FLT PLAN. AT APPROX XA15 AND 15 NM W OF THE JANESVILLE; WI; ARPT; I CONTACTED THE JVL CTL TWR; INFORMED THEM THAT I HAD THE CURRENT ATIS; MY POS AND THAT I WISHED TO LAND AT JVL. THE TWR INSTRUCTED ME TO RPT 3 NM W ON A L BASE LEG TO RWY 4. I REQUESTED THAT I BE ALLOWED TO PROCEED DIRECT TO THE JVL VOR THEN CONTINUE ON THE RWY 4 LOC COURSE TO THE ARPT. MY REQUEST WAS APPROVED AND I WAS ADVISED TO RPT PASSING THE JVL VOR. UPON PASSING THE JVL VOR; I RPTED MY POS AND WAS ADVISED THAT I WAS TO FOLLOW A BEECHCRAFT BARON 2 MI W OF THE ARPT ON A L BASE LEG TO RWY 4. THE JVL WX WAS GOOD WITH SCATTERED CLOUDS ABOVE 5000 FT AND A VISIBILITY GREATER THAN 10 MI. I REPLIED TO THE TWR THAT I DID NOT HAVE THE PRECEDING ACFT IN SIGHT AND REMARKED THAT HE WAS PROBABLY LOST IN THE TREES. I CONTINUED TO DSND AT 105 KTS WITH LNDG GEAR AND FLAPS EXTENDED AND APPROX 1-2 DOTS HIGH ON THE GS. AT APPROX 1500 FT AGL; A BEECHCRAFT BARON PASSED TO MY L; 75 FT HORIZ AND 15 FT VERT BELOW MY ALT. HIS COURSE WAS THE SAME AS MINE. HE HAD OVERTAKEN ME AND WAS CONTINUING AT A SPD OF ABOUT 10 KTS GREATER THAN MY OWN. AT THAT MOMENT THE TWR ASKED ME IF I HAD MY TFC IN SIGHT. MY RESPONSE WAS THAT I DID AND THAT HE HAD JUST PASSED UNDER MY L WING. THE CTL TWR THEN INSTRUCTED THE BARON TO MAKE A L 360 DEG TURN TO FOLLOW A TWIN BEECH AND CLRED ME TO LAND BEHIND AN ACFT THAT WAS JUST TOUCHING DOWN ON RWY 4. THE PLT OF THE BARON ACCEPTED THE CLRNC AND A SHORT TIME LATER ASKED WHAT THE POS OF THE TWIN BEECH WAS; TO WHAT THE TWR REPLIED; 'TOUCHING DOWN.' SEVERAL THINGS MAY HAVE PRECLUDED THE ABOVE FROM HAPPENING. I PROBABLY SHOULD NOT HAVE REQUESTED A FLT PATH THAT WAS DIFFERENT THAN WHAT MY ORIGINAL CLRNC WAS; ALTHOUGH I DID HEAR AN ACFT RPT OVER THE WEAVE OM INBOUND TO THE ARPT A FEW MINS BEFORE MY ENCOUNTER. I SHOULD HAVE LOOKED FOR THE ACFT IN MY 7-8 O'CLOCK POS RATHER THAN MY 9-12 O'CLOCK POS; ASSUMING THAT PERHAPS THE ACFT WAS 4-5 MI W OF THE ARPT RATHER THAN THE RPTED 2 MI AND JUST BECAUSE I WAS HIGH ON THE APCH DID NOT NECESSARILY MEAN THAT HE WAS LOWER THAN I WAS. THE APCH SHOULD HAVE NOT BEEN ALLOWED TO CONTINUE WITHOUT HAVING THE PRECEDING ACFT IN SIGHT WITH 3 ACFT ON FINAL WITHIN 3 MI OF THE ARPT. A POSSIBILITY EXISTS THAT THE PLT OF THE BARON; KNOWING THAT I WAS TO FOLLOW HIM; FELT THAT I WAS SIMPLY CUTTING IN AND ELECTED TO PASS ME BY. THE ONLY REASON THAT I MENTION THIS IS THAT I CAN'T IMAGINE THAT HE DID NOT SEE MY ACFT AS HE OVERTOOK ME FROM BEHIND. SATURDAY AFTERNOONS ARE A VERY BUSY TIME AT JANESVILLE; ESPECIALLY DURING GOOD WX. THE TWR OPERATOR AT TIMES HAS HIS HANDS FULL; WHICH MAKES ME WISH THAT I HAD NOT REQUESTED A ROUTING DIFFERENT THAN WHAT HIS INITIAL CLRNC ENTAILED.