Time to get a grip, fellers. Five miles on a visual approach. How do YOU measure it, Dick? With a GPS, I s'pose.How do I measure it. By looking out the window and eyeballing it.
So my "5" is your GPS 3.5. And as for my eyeball "5" at my weekend toy bugsmasher's 85 knots compared with a jet's absolutely accurate 5 - by the time he's got the call out the jet is at 3.5 anyway, unless he starts the call at 6.5 (which I try to remember do in my company jet anyway), but as I said, about then I am looking out the window and not at the GPS, even though it's got two of the things. For those who don't like my cowboy approach to this rule, who ya gonna call?
How will CASA or the county cops or whoever enforces this rule measure it from the ground? (non-controlled, non radar). They can't. And if they can't, they can't enforce the rule, and would have no hope of a prosecution. If the terrain is hostile, or complying with a rule would place your aircraft at risk, you don't need a reason to 'bend' that rule. Airmanship.