"Cleared present position direct...." has been my experience with popping
up. Of course, I was at an altitude where radar could see me. In my
experience, being on an airway offers no special advantage.

Bob Gardner

"Brenor Brophy" wrote in message
...
Lots of good answers, especially regarding how easy it is to get a pop-up
if you already have flight following. I'll just add one more item - fly a
route you could fly IFR with the equipment you've got. For example, while
my handheld GPS can take me direct anywhere VFR - I'm screwed if I need an
IFR pop-up and I'm not on an airway in my VOR only equiped plane (/U). So
I pretty much always follow airways - just on the off chance I need to
"convert" my flight following to an IFR clearance.

-Brenor