I don't see the value of Flight Following in this case. (Sarcasm) Does the
controller somehow get in the airplane and make this ill-advised flight
safer?

Here is my suggestion.
If one wants to do stupid airplane and pilot tricks, why not do them with an
audience at your local airport on a Saturday or Sunday morning?

Scud running rarely attracts a crowd (except at the very end.)

"Jose" wrote in message
...
I didn't say [flight following] was a panacea

No, but you did say:
No IFR traffic could possibly be as low as I was, and I thought that as
long as ATC was getting my return, I should get a heads up on any other
aircraft in the vicinity.

which I think puts more on them than is warranted. I do however agree FF
is a good idea, especially in this case. How low were you? You make it
sound like dicey scud-running, but you'd have to be at a radar altitude to
even get FF.

But given the weather and the (to me) featureless terrain, pilotage would
have been extremely difficult. I couldn't fly straight long enough
[presumably because of dodging weather] to make any attempt at ded
reckoning.

Yep. This is where GPS shines. I recently did something similar, though
on top rather than underneath, dodging thunderstorms, and getting FF to
help with weather info and to be in contact when would finally need an
instrument approach. Going VFR allowed me a more direct route, a simpler
flight in weather, and let me skip a gas stop.

Jose
--
"Never trust anything that can think for itself, if you can't see where it
keeps its brain."
(chapter 10 of book 3 - Harry Potter).
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