NO REAL ANOMALY OCCURRED; BUT CONCERN OF PLT FOR ATC PROC AND VICE VERSA.

Narrative

I WAS ON AN IFR FLT FROM BOISE; ID; TO SANTA ROSA; CA. THE FINAL LEG OF THE FLT WAS VIA THE WILLIAMS VOR V301 TO STS. THE FLT WAS PROGRESSING NORMALLY AND AS I APCHED THE AREA OF STS; I WAS BEING HANDLED BY ZOA. ALTHOUGH THE AREA WAS VMC; THE CTR CTLR WAS PROVIDING VECTORS TO STS; SINCE I WAS UNFAMILIAR WITH THE AREA. HE DID ADVISE ME THAT HE COULD NOT CLR ME BELOW 5000 FT UNTIL I RPTED THE ARPT IN SIGHT. I WAS BEING VECTORED FROM THE E AT 5000 FT BUT HAD SOME DIFFICULTY IDENTING THE ARPT ENVIRONMENT UNTIL I WAS WITHIN ABOUT 6 TO 7 MI. WHEN I RPTED THE ARPT IN SIGHT; CTR CLRED ME FOR THE L DOWNWIND TO RWY 14 AND ADVISED ME TO CONTACT STS TWR. I DID SO AND WAS CLRED FOR THE VISUAL APCH TO 14. I ADVISED THE TWR THAT I NEEDED TO EXTEND THE DOWNWIND; SINCE I WAS DSNDING OUT OF 5000 FT. THE TWR ADVISED ME IN A SLIGHTLY SARCASTIC TONE THAT THE PATTERN ALT WAS 1125 FT. I REPLIED THAT I WAS AWARE OF THAT. (I DID NOT GO INTO ANY EXPLANATION OF WHY I WAS SO CLOSE AT SUCH A HIGH ALT; ALTHOUGH I PRESUMED THAT THE CTR WOULD HAVE ADVISED THEM; SINCE IT WAS AN IFR FLT.) AS I CONTINUED ON A L DOWNWIND; TO A DISTANCE OF ABOUT 8 TO 9 MI FROM THE ARPT; I HEARD THE TWR CLR AT LEAST 2 OTHER AIRPLANES TO LAND ON RWY 14; INCLUDING ONE WHO ADVISED HE WAS STRAIGHT-IN. EXCEPT FOR THE PLT'S COMMENT THAT HE WAS STRAIGHT-IN; I DID NOT HEAR ANY POS OR SEQUENCING OF ANY OF THE ACFT FOR LNDG. AS I GOT BELOW 2000 FT; STILL ON A DOWNWIND; THE TWR ASKED IF I 'WAS ABOUT READY TO COME IN' OR SOMETHING TO THAT EFFECT. I ADVISED I COULD TURN BASE; BUT THAT I WAS LOOKING FOR THE AIRPLANE WHICH WAS APCHING STRAIGHT-IN TO 14. THE TWR REPLIED; 'WELL; I CAN'T FLY YOUR AIRPLANE FOR YOU; SIR.' I ADVISED THAT I WAS TURNING BASE; AT WHICH TIME HE ASKED IF I WAS NW OR NE OF THE ARPT. (WHEN ONE IS ON A L DOWNWIND TO RWY 14; THE ONLY PLACE YOU SHOULD BE IS NW; WHICH IS WHERE I WAS.) I ADVISED MY POS AND TURNED FINAL; AT WHICH TIME THE TWR CLRED ANOTHER PLANE FOR A L BASE TO RWY 14; AGAIN WITHOUT SEQUENCING OR POS INFO. I RPTED A 5 MI FINAL AND THAT I DID NOT HAVE ANY OTHER ACFT IN SIGHT. I WAS CLRED TO LAND ON RWY 14. AS I WAS ON SHORT FINAL; ANOTHER PLANE WAS CLRED TO LAND; ALSO ON RWY 14; BUT WAS ADVISED TO FOLLOW ME. I AM NOT AWARE OF ANY INCIDENTS WHICH MIGHT HAVE OCCURRED DURING THIS APCH; BUT I WAS CONCERNED ABOUT THE LACK OF SEQUENCING FOR LNDG; WHICH I AM QUITE USED TO RECEIVING FROM MY HOME TWR; AND OTHER TWRS I HAVE FLOWN TO. THE SARCASTIC RESPONSE OF THE CTLR ALSO DID NOT HELP THE SIT. I WAS NOT ASKING ANYONE ELSE TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR FLYING MY AIRPLANE; BUT I DID EXPECT NORMAL ADVISORIES. I HAVE ALSO BEEN TRAINED TO FOLLOW CTLR DIRECTIONS IN A CTL ZONE; AND THEREFORE DID NOT PLAN ANY TURNS WITHOUT TWR APPROVAL. AFTER LNDG; I DID NOT RECEIVE ANY INDICATION THAT I HAD DONE ANYTHING WRONG; BUT WAS CONCERNED OVER THE MATTER. HOWEVER; I DID NOT BELIEVE IT PRUDENT TO QUESTION THE CTLR'S ACTIONS AT THAT TIME. THE FOLLOWING DAY; AFTER LEAVING MY PLANE AT THE FIELD AND STAYING OVERNIGHT; I FILED AN IFR FLT PLAN FROM STS TO OAK. THE GND CTLR WAS VERY HELPFUL AND THE TWR CTLR WAS ALSO FRIENDLY AND HELPFUL. HOWEVER; AS I WAS DEPARTING THE AREA VIA THE SANTA ROSA 5 SID; THE TWR CTLR CALLED ME AND STATED; 'IF YOU'RE STILL WITH ME; CONTACT ZOA ON XXXX.' WHILE THERE WAS NO REAL PROB HERE; I WAS AGAIN TAKEN ABACK THAT THERE WAS A PRESUMPTION OR POSSIBILITY THAT I MIGHT NOT STILL BE ON THE TWR FREQ. I HAD EXPERIENCED NO LOST COMS; AND I HAVE BEEN TRAINED NOT TO GO WANDERING OFF MY ASSIGNED FREQ UNTIL CLRED TO DO SO. AFTER CONTACT WITH CTR; THE FLT PROGRESSED NORMALLY; WITH NORMAL FREQ HDOFS; ALL THE WAY TO THE OAKLAND ARPT.