Why put yourself in a position that A) leaves you hard
to find by other aircraft looking for someone "on final"

John, IMHO, I was "on final." The whole point I'm trying to make is that I
don't believe you have to be precisely on the extended center line to be on
final. Rather, to me "Cleared Straight-In" implies that you should not make
a downwind or base turn, but simply fly direct to the airport, align
yourself with the runway, and land. I also don't agree you are necessarily
any "harder to find" on final if you are offset within 30 deg.

from which
you *must* make a 30 degree turn at low altitude on short final?

If the prospect of making a 30 degree turn at low altitude on short final
fills you with dread, you should never try to land a Pitts (which routinely
requires you to slip it in while offset from the centerline). Also, why
necessarily wait until short final to make an abrupt low altitude turn? One
could simply turn gradually and gracefully in a shallow bank turn to end up
aligned with the extended center line. Hardly dangerous.

Common
sense, prudence, and professional practice would all lead you to a point
on
the extended centerline some miles out from the field.

Un huh. I suppose the absolutely correct thing for me to have done was to
setup a waypoint in my GPS exactly five miles out from the numbers on the
extended center line and fly direct to that. Please. I prefer to do more
meaningful things when I'm close to an airport (like look for traffic).

It costs you nothing
to do so, and makes the system simpler and safer.

Actually, it costs you about one minute more flying. May not seem like a
lot to you, but after 26 hours of flying to KOSH and back, every minute
seems valuable.

Regards, Jim

"John Gaquin" wrote in message
...

"Jim Cummiskey" wrote in message

I obviously vote for #2, but the controller clearly thought otherwise
(it
seems to me that if 30 deg = "straight-in" in the IFR domain, it ought
to
work well enough for VFR situations). Regardless, it is potentially
dangerous when controllers and pilots define things differently. Which
definition is right?

There may be some rule or combination of rules and definitions that would
allow you to fly direct from present position to the threshold, but why
would you want to? Why put yourself in a position that A) leaves you hard
to find by other aircraft looking for someone "on final", and B) from
which
you *must* make a 30 degree turn at low altitude on short final?Common
sense, prudence, and professional practice would all lead you to a point
on
the extended centerline some miles out from the field. It costs you
nothing
to do so, and makes the system simpler and safer.