ATC: "Please Verify You Are A VFR Flight"

[luvflyin]

I would hope the "VFR" commentary is unnecessary because your altitude makes it obvious...I would hope...

I never state "VFR" in my transmissions when on flight following. Maybe I should though.

I've flown a lot of XC trips on FF east of the Rockies and, honestly, the only time I ever had issues was:

A) When I worked in Georgia. ATL approach thinks they control most all of Georgia, regardless of the airspace. They'll vector you around when you are many miles outside of the class bravo if you let them.

and

B) When I worked in Wisconsin and regularly transitioned Rockford Approach's airspace. The most snide cantankerous bas***** that I've ever dealt with. I once heard an airline pilot ask them "so...let's get this straight...am I up here because you're down there or are you down there because I'm up here? Yes, please do give me a phone number to call."

The altitude your actually at doesn't always tell the story. A controller making that assumption when for reason he isn't sure if your VFR or not (yeah I know, this shouldn't happen but it does) is setting himself up for a "boo boo" someday.

That's not the first pilot who quoted that. There are a lot of controllers who subscribe to "everything was just fine here at Kittyhawk Tower until the Wright Brothers came along and F****d it all up" train of thought.