wrote:

brian whatcott wrote:
when flying in from the west:

"Fly a right downwind to runway 17L , clear to land."

Got the picture?
What is the first turn direction?
On which runway do you turn final from base?

I think my response would be along the lines of "WTF do you want me to
do?", although phrased a bit more gentle.

What we haven't been told is what is the situation regarding runway 17R.
Presumably there is one, but is it active? is it handled by the same tower
frequency? is there any known traffic?

Without any further direction or indication that it would be a problem, I
would just turn left, and enter a right downwind, turn base and fly past
17R and land on 17L as instructed. If the airport is not busy, or 17R is
closed, it could be a completely normal instruction.

I would also read back the clearance completely, to just make sure I'm
doing what they're expecting. .

Mike