Steven P. McNicoll wrote:
Instructing VFR aircraft on flight following to advise when they have the
field in sight is not standard procedure and does not have any useful
purpose.

I didn't know that. I've always received that instruction; maybe it's a
regional thing?

When *is* "time to switch"? Again, I had thought - by inferring from how
I've been handled - that it's time to switch when I actually have the
field in sight.

It's time to switch at a point that will allow the aircraft to contact the
tower before entering Class D airspace.

Is that really a necessary demarcation if approach is going to hand me off
to the tower?

Because if I'm having trouble spotting the field, either I need help
because it's hard to find, or I'm just not in the right place (i.e.,
"lost"), and need help finding it because I'm lost.

How is keeping flight following, by itself, beneficial in those cases?

It's not particularly necessary, but it sure does save time. I got lost
on my first student cross-country solo, and it was a lot easier to ask
Approach for help, since I already had a squawk code, and, even though *I*
didn't know where I was, *they* already did. I could have contacted them
and gotten the same help, but it was faster since I was already - pardon
the expression - on their radar.

.... Alan
--
Alan Gerber
PP-ASEL
gerber AT panix DOT com