"Newps" wrote in message
news


Stan Prevost wrote:
Then
another controller wouldn't let me descend in time (while I was still VFR
On Top), I wound up cancelling IFR and circling down to the airport.

Wouldn't let you descend? It's not his call. You tell him you're
descending, if you choose to tell him at all.


Yes, I know, but when I have been given an instruction to advise of altitude
changes, and then when I advise of an altitude change and am told to remain
at my present altitude and he will give me lower in a few miles, my choices
are limited. I can start an argument on the frequency, cancel IFR,
disregard his instructions, or go along with what he says. There is that
pesky FAR that says pilots must comply with ATC clearances and instructions
(as long as they would not cause me to violate a FAR or compromise the
safety of my flight). Some say that pilots are not obligated to comply with
an instruction that an controller is not authorized to give, but that is
usually an issue to be sorted out on the ground, IMO.

If he wanted to keep me at altitude, he could have and probably should have
assigned me a hard IFR altitude, such as 12000 (I was at 12500). There is
not a lot of difference in the end result, so why cause a scene over it in
the air?