Happy Dog wrote:

Lordy, why? VFR in low ceilings means that almost everyone is flying just
below the clouds. Why wouldn't you want to have flight following in those
conditions? It's free. What's the issue?

I do not hear well. This is the result of early use of firearms and a lifetime
of working with power tools. To some extent that is taken care of by a decent
radio, excellent intercom, and a set of Bose-X headsets, but, in addition to
that, I don't "snap to attention" when someone addresses me. I'm typically
thinking, sightseeing, or daydreaming. I also spend a fair amount of any long
flight listening to music (though not when I'm near something like class-D
airspace).

That creates a cycle in which I get little practice in talking to ATC, so my
communications are awkward. So I avoid situtations in which I have to talk with
them, so I get less practice. The first time I enter controlled airspace each
season is certainly entertaining for any outsider on the channel, and the last
few years I've not had occassion to speak to ATC at all.

The result is that I find keeping an erratic conversation going with ATC to be a
lot of unpleasant work. As I said, that's a personal decision. I would never
recommend against using flight following, I just prefer to avoid it myself. If
I'm close to a major airport (for example, passing Roanoke on a Tennessee run),
I'll be listening but not talking to them.

George Patterson
There's plenty of room for all of God's creatures. Right next to the
mashed potatoes.