Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

2 Answers

VFR Direct under class C?

Asked by: 1700 views Airspace, Private Pilot

I was cleared VFR direct to my destination after contacting approach departing out of a class D airport under their class C shelf. I know I'm cleared into their airspace but does it also imply that altitude is also at my discretion and that I can climb up to my cruise altitude? 

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

2 Answers



  1. Mark Kolber on Apr 22, 2018

    Unless the Class C controller specified an altitude, you are unrestricted. That’s common if you told ATC your planned altitude (did you?).

    It can also happen when your route of flight does not effect any arrival/departure lanes. Examples are quiet times and when your route crosses perpendicular to the runways.

    However, it is considered by many to be a good practice to advise ATC of any changes in direction or altitude.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  2. Ron Klutts on May 18, 2018

    It’s always good to advise ATC of any changes in altitude as they may be busy doing something else and may not notice your blip and the changing numbers. Think of them as traffic coordinators and as such they need to know whats happening. More often than not they will say “VFR altitude your discretion.” If they need you at a specific altitude for other traffic they will tell you to stay at or below XXXX\’, or above XXXX’

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes


The following terms have been auto-detected the question above and any answers or discussion provided. Click on a term to see its definition from the Dauntless Aviation JargonBuster Glossary.

Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.