C-172 PLT ON IFR APCH TO NQA MISUNDERSTANDS CTLR'S CIRCLE TO LAND INSTRUCTIONS.

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AS I WAS INBOUND ON THE ILS RWY 22 APCH INTO NQA; TWR TOLD ME TO ADVISE WHEN I WAS 4 MI OUT. AT 4 MI OUT; I HAD ALREADY BROKEN OUT OF THE CLOUDS AND HAD THE ARPT IN SIGHT. I ADVISED TWR THAT I WAS 4 MI OUT. HE TOLD ME THAT MY TFC WAS A C-130 TURNING L DOWNWIND DOING TOUCH AND GOES AND A BEECH JET ON SHORT FINAL. HE THEN TOLD ME TO 'CIRCLE TO THE E; EXPECT RWY 4.' I WAS UNSURE OF WHAT HE MEANT BY THIS; BUT FIGURED THAT HE WANTED ME TO DO A L CIRCLE FOR SEQUENCING BEHIND THE PLANES. IN THE MIDDLE OF MY SECOND CIRCLE; TWR CAME BACK AND TOLD ME THAT MY TFC WAS A C-130 ON 2 1/2 MI FINAL FOR RWY 4. I REPLIED THAT I WOULD LOOK FOR TFC. THEN TWR ASKED ME WHAT MY POS WAS. I TOLD HIM THAT I WAS 3 MI N OF THE FIELD; CIRCLING AND ASKED HIM IF HE WANTED ME TO ENTER A L DOWNWIND FOR RWY 4. HE TOLD ME THAT HE WANTED ME ON A R DOWNWIND THAT'S WHY HE TOLD ME TO CIRCLE. I THEN ENTERED A R DOWNWARD FOR RWY 4 AND LANDED WITH NO PROBS. I THINK THIS COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED IF I HAD ASKED HIM WHAT HE MEANT BY 'CIRCLE TO THE E' ORIGINALLY; OR IF HE HAD BEEN MORE SPECIFIC AND TOLD ME TO 'CIRCLE TO LAND RWY 4.'