I doubt ATC will see turning a PA28 in at 6 miles as sub-standard. I'm sure they have genuine reasons and given the location, I guess flow has something to do with it, including departures.
I have no complaint, just saying it is sometimes tricky to deal with. Given time and experience, it will become a non-event.
Regarding the question about flaps and DH. My advise would be to keep working at applying before DH. That is what I'm doing now with variable success.
I was trained until the latter part, to go clean to DH. Towards the end, the Instructor had me introducing flaps (PA28) around 1000 ft on the ILS with full configuration just after DH. You need to be prepared for the initial bounce up to kick in (elevator down to maintain the glide) and then look for the drag to have it's effect. I don't mess about trimming. This is fine touch handling as you are now very close in and the glide is super sensitive. Any major increase in power to counter the drag taking you under the glide will see the needle move sharply down and you could be facing a G/A. The local Experts tell me it's more about elevator control than power.
I would say the easy way is to apply the config after DH. If you really want to develop and tune your flying skills, then introduce the config before DH and enjoy very high levels of satisfaction in taking the a/c fully established to the threshold.
What's this about an Auto-pilot ?
