john smith wrote:


You already have an IFR CLEARANCE, you just do not have an IFR RELEASE.
They are not the same thing.
Hence you can request a VFR DEPARTURE with an IFR CLEARANCE.

You are still a little hazy on this. If you depart VFR you are not in
the system, period. You get absolutely no separation of any kind
whatsoever. You may as well have taken off VFR and requested your
clearance enroute.