Bob Gardner wrote:
You get the Gardner Award for today. Good thinking. Insofar as the clearance
is concerned, my guess is that the controller is spring-loaded in the
electronic navigation position and reacted without considering whether you
were IFR or VFR. Might not be a bad idea to keep track of where you are in
relation to enroute VORs even when flying visually...I always had my VFR
cross-country students tune in off-route VORs and keep twisting the OBS to
keep the needle centered as they flew along as a kind of progress check.
Bob Gardner

this also helps a LOT when going for your IFR ticket and explains
why it is good to follow Victor airways. Even if I'm doing a direct-to
using a GPS on a VOR 120 miles away, I'm cross-checking with airports
(for emergency landings) and VOR's that I pass. throw in some visual
checkpoints and it makes this whole flying thing quite easy.

Gerald