"Jim Cummiskey" wrote in message
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[...]
Hence, the question is "What does 'Cleared Straight-in; Report X miles
Final" really mean?" Is it. . . .

(1) You must fly directly from your current position to a point on the
extended centerline that is X miles from the numbers, and then report
(sounds like a base to me).

or

(2) You can fly directly from your current position to the numbers (thus
"straight-in"), and report when you are X miles away.

I always try to be on the extended centerline by 2 miles or so. Depending
on how far out I'm starting, or what the specific instructions were, I might
need to be on the extended centerline earlier.

In your case, I see two problems, both related to your original instruction
and the definition of "final". IMHO, you were within your rights to fly
direct to the runway, if you really wanted to. However, you should not have
called your position as "final". To me, "final" specifically means that
you're on the extended centerline, which you were not.

The AIM defines "final" in the pilot/controller glossary as "commonly used
to mean that an aircraft is on the final approach course or is aligned with
a landing area". Note that "final approach course" is relevant only for an
instrument approach (and is well-defined by that instrument approach
procedure, and is almost always aligned with the runway), and so the only
definition relevant to your situation specifically says that "final" is
aligned with the runway.

The second issue is, of course, whether you obeyed the controller's
instruction. Since the word "final" means something very specific, it's
clear to me that the controller expected you to fly to a point 5 miles out
on the extended centerline and report that point. You didn't do that. You
should have told her you weren't going to do that.

So...you certainly were within your rights to fly the approach you did, but
a) you should have told the controller your intent to deviate from her
instruction, and b) you should not have reported your position as "final"
since you weren't on the extended centerline.

Hope that helps...

Pete