Appreciate the feedback, Maria. Good points, and I understand and agree
with your comments about the FARs and the expectations of pilots regarding
position reports.

However, a few comments:

acknowledging WHY she felt it was important to do so, you are ticked-off
that
she mentioned it, concerned about not being "wrong", and playing semantics
with
the arguments. If this isn't just a great exercise in trolling, I hope,
for the
safety of everyone who shares the sky with you, that you get over it soon.

Actually, ATC Doug has a theory WHY she felt it was important for her to
call it to my attention. According to Doug, KPRC is a training facility,
and they have a lot of inexperienced controllers there undergoing training.
As I reported earlier, there was no radio traffic (to my recollection)
within five minutes either side of my initial radio call and my wheels
touching down. Since I was responsible for my own separation, I was quite
attentive to traffic. I don't think there was any other traffic in the
entire Class D airspace. Doug thinks the controller was "pulling my
chain"--perhaps ensuring I understood the domain of her authority on a slow
Sunday morning. But, according to ATC Paul, the Tower Manager, HIS
controller was absolutely WRONG! Does his vote count? Or, am I still just
a troller?

So, yes Maria. I am very concerned about "not being wrong" when I fly. The
consequences are too high. The point is: if it IS perfectly proper
procedure to fly "angled finals" and report them as "finals," then shouldn't
we pilots began to do a little better job of scanning the entire final
quadrant vice only checking only the extended centerline?

So, it has nothing to do with the "semantics of the arguments." It has to
do with coming up with a common language so that when a Controller says X,
the Pilot understands X (and vice-versa). The bottom line is that in this
case we had a clear disconnect. And, three members of the ATC community
agree that "flying directly to the airport, aligning myself with the runway,
and landing" while reporting "5 miles final" at five miles offset from the
centerline was PERFECTLY correct (indeed very COMMON behavior in the
hundreds of airports I've experienced).

Or maybe, you're saying I should have reported "5 miles" only? "5 miles
NE?" How about "5 miles angled final?" Or, is your position, "You can't
fly an angled final ever!?" If so, in the absence of a specific
controller's "Report 'instruction,'" what are you proposing is the minimum
distance every pilot should be on the extended centerline (less I spoil the
the safety of the national airspace system for everyone)? And, what do I
SAY to avoid crashing into someone? Gosh, all us people who have the
arrogance to occasionally fly without radios must really upset all of you
folks who's safety is compromised without continuous position reports. What
happened to "See and Avoid" and "Keep that head on a swivel?"

Regards, Jim

"MariaSanguini" wrote in message
...
IMO, you don't have to be an "expert" on interpreting the FARs ... the
input,
expert or not, of everyone who flies is important on this one. Obviously,
we
should always be scanning everywhere, but there *are* specific areas where
majority of us *initially* look for traffic said to be in various stages
of the
traffic pattern, i.e., *on the extended runway centerline* for other
"traffic
on straight-in final", and it's important to your own safety and the
safety of
others that you *are* there when your position is announced, either by
yourself
or by an ATC.

The issue isn't who is "right" or "wrong", but rather the arrogant,
disappointing attitude that being "right" makes it okay to put yourself in
a
spot where you **KNOW** other pilots won't expect you to be if you are
instructed to make "straight-in" final. The ATC thought it was enough of a
concern to call it to your attention ... instead of understanding and
acknowledging WHY she felt it was important to do so, you are ticked-off
that
she mentioned it, concerned about not being "wrong", and playing semantics
with
the arguments. If this isn't just a great exercise in trolling, I hope,
for the
safety of everyone who shares the sky with you, that you get over it soon.