IFR/Flight Following -- ATC Preferences?

John Doe wrote:

That being said, I'm all for not bothering ATC unless I'm required to by FAA
regulations.

I used to feel the same way until I got my instrument ticket. Once I
started flying IFR flight plans, I started to file for any trip over an
hour or so long, regardless of weather. I liked having the extra eyes
looking for traffic (not to mention not having to worry about
circumnavigating some large cloud event).

Now, even if I don't file, I still call up for flight following unless
the trip is really short or I'm just going up to practice stalls or T&Gs.


-m
--
## Mark T. Dame
## VP, Product Development
## MFM Software, Inc. (http://www.mfm.com/)
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