Newps wrote in message news:ol2ec.8025$wP1.27020@attbi_s54...
You must either see the airport or the preceding aircraft. In the real
world it is only a tiny percentage of aircraft that get a visual
approach and don't have the airport in sight but are following another
aircraft.

We're not following another aircraft.

Here in Billings we give a lot of visual approach clearances
on initial contact because the pilot calls the airport in sight 40 miles
out.

(wolf whistle) Nice.

Here in the midwest, we get a lot of summer wx where there's not a
cloud in the sky and the vis is nominally VFR -- at least you can
make out airports which are 3 miles away by GPS. But it's really
flight by reference to instruments. The forward vis is nil.
And once one starts a descent, the radius shrinks. Practically
speaking, I'm not going to see the airport until I'm practically
flying over it, yet there's no question whatsoever about my
ability to land there under VFR.

Are you saying that the center, for no apparent reason, is just
giving you a visual approach clearance without you first calling the
airport in sight?

The latter (vis approach clearance without me first calling the
airport in sight), but not the former. At the MIA, both radar
and radio reception will be tenuous -- and at an airport with no
IAP there's no requirement to assure radio reception at a given
altitude as there is with, for example, a MAHP. Operationally,
there are several apparent reasons why it's probably helpful to
go ahead and issue the clearance.

Cheers,
Sydney