IFR pilot questioned the routing issued by ATC with regard to the last word 'direct'; i.e. Is the di...

Narrative:

We filed an IFR flight plan from apc to O88. The clearance that we received was as follows; we were cleared to O88 airport. After departure direct sgd direct; maintain 5;000; departure frequency 127.8; squawk XXXX. After taking off from napa airport; we contacted departure. Upon arrival of scaggs island VOR; I was not exactly sure where to proceed direct from that point so I made this call 'oakland center; verify clear direct to sacramento VOR which begins the instrument approach to O88 airport.' oakland responded with 'just follow the clearance. What was the clearance that you received?' I told him the clearance. He interpreted the clearance as 'direct scaggs direct O88. Which part do you not understand!' now what does 'direct' mean in this case? Where do they expect me to go? Here is the part that is not clear for me. Does the word 'direct' at the end of a route assignment mean to go direct to the destination airport or to go to the fix or navigational aids? Part 91.181 (b) I asked the question because I was not sure about the clearance. Earlier that day we took off from oak to sns. The clearance was 'cleared to salinas airport via nuevo five departure shoey transition sns (VOR) direct. Climb and maintain 7;000.' so after we arrive over sns VOR are we expected to go direct to the airport? We are already over the airport because the VOR is located at the airport. Now what does 'direct' mean in this case? Where do they expect me to go?

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: IFR pilot questioned the routing issued by ATC with regard to the last word 'direct'; i.e. is the direct instruction to the airport; the IAP or some other point.

Narrative: We filed an IFR flight plan from APC to O88. The clearance that we received was as follows; we were cleared to O88 airport. After departure direct SGD direct; maintain 5;000; Departure frequency 127.8; Squawk XXXX. After taking off from Napa Airport; we contacted departure. Upon arrival of Scaggs Island VOR; I was not exactly sure where to proceed direct from that point so I made this call 'Oakland Center; verify clear direct to Sacramento VOR which begins the instrument approach to O88 Airport.' Oakland responded with 'Just follow the clearance. What was the clearance that you received?' I told him the clearance. He interpreted the clearance as 'direct Scaggs direct O88. Which part do you not understand!' Now what does 'direct' mean in this case? Where do they expect me to go? Here is the part that is not clear for me. Does the word 'Direct' at the end of a route assignment mean to go direct to the destination airport or to go to the fix or navigational aids? Part 91.181 (b) I asked the question because I was not sure about the clearance. Earlier that day we took off from OAK to SNS. The clearance was 'Cleared to Salinas Airport via Nuevo Five Departure Shoey transition SNS (VOR) direct. Climb and maintain 7;000.' So after we arrive over SNS VOR are we expected to go direct to the airport? We are already over the airport because the VOR is located at the airport. Now what does 'direct' mean in this case? Where do they expect me to go?

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1011835
Time
Date	201205
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZOA.ARTCC
State Reference	CA
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Travelair 95
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Initial Climb
Route In Use	Direct
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Instructor Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Instrument
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 200 Flight Crew Total 20000 Flight Crew Type 6500
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types

IFR pilot questioned the routing issued by ATC with regard to the last word 'direct'; i.e. Is the direct instruction to the airport; the IAP or some other point.