On Sat, 14 Aug 2004 09:45:00 -0700, "Jim Cummiskey"
wrote:


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?

According to the other ATC controllers who have posted here, who have
given you the clear text verbiage from the FARs, AIM, and FAA
documentation that the controllers are supposed to be going by, I
would say that no - that tower manager's vote doesn't count.

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?

Looking in the AIM I don't see an "angled" final anywhere. I do see a
depiction of a rectangular course, with 3 of the legs labeled
"downwind, base, final" and a note that says the base to final turn
should not overshoot the final course, and that turn should be no
closer than 1/4 mile from the runway. So, the normal final course is
on or reasonably close to the centerline, with a 0 degree difference
between the ground track and the runway heading, regardless of where
your aircraft is pointing to deal with wind correction. Thus, for all
the provided documentation to make any sense at all, an instruction to
complete a 5 mile final would require you to intercept the extended
centerline, heading for the runway, at a point 5 or more miles out.