70V: "jax center, Cessna 70V at xxxx, would like to pick up IFR
clearance to FTY"

JAX:"70V, squawk 1234, climb to 5000, I'll have the rest of your
clearance in a few minutes"

5000 feet would put me in the clouds, and having not heard the words
"cleared to", I wasn't sure if I was considered to be flying IFR at
this point, so I told the controller that 5000 would put me in the
clouds, and he responded to go ahead, that I was already IFR.

So you can be IFR already even without having received your complete
clearance.

Well, that was an improperly delivered clearance. What do you do if you
lose comm? (I suppose fly your flight plan, and hope he actually finds it.)

When the controller issues a "Climb to 5000", it IS a clearance, even
though it does not tell you where you are going (yet).

No, I would not rely on that to be true, at least not without asking
=explicitly= if I am IFR.

Jose
--
Get high on gasoline: fly an airplane.
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