I can't count the number of times I have been flying with a student on
flight following, and upon approaching Class D airspace hear the question
"Should I switch over to the tower?" I think the existing situation is
confusing to many pilots. Added to this, and extending the thread a tad, is
the situation where the tower has ceded the top 500 feet of its D airspace
to the overlying approach control, so the student learns, to his surprise,
that he need not call the tower at all but can stay with approach. This is
not a big deal except that it leads to a lot of unnecessary transmissions:
"Approach, BuzzBird 35X, should I switch over to the tower now?" "Negative,
stay with me."

Bob Gardner

"G.R. Patterson III" wrote in message
...


Bob Gardner wrote:

AIM 3-2-1 says that it is the responsibility of the pilot to insure that
ATC
clearance or radio communication requirements are met prior to entry into
Class B, C, or D airspace; the Air Traffic Control Handbook tells
controllers that it is their responsibility to coordinate the passage
through that airspace of flights to which they are providing services.
Which
is right??

I don't see any conflict. The AIM tells me that it's my responsibility to
handle
things before I enter the controller's airspace and the ATCH says it's the
controllers' responsibility after I get in there. Two different scenarios
and
locations in the air.

George Patterson
The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.