Aviator-Talk

I am planning my first cross country since receiving my license. Its going to be about 380NM round trip from KCSG-KMEI. In my training I always planned a direct route so when I called for flight following I always told them direct. On this flight I will be KCSG-KMGM-V58-KMEI to avoid some very hot MOA's. When I call for flight following on the ground at CSG should I tell them my entire route? If so, what is the best way to do that?

you're VFR and Flight Following is not a clearance or anything so you are free to fly whatever route you choose. On inital call up i'd just tell them im headed to KMEI and then if they ask or there is time on freq advise you'll be going around the MOAs

That definitely makes sense. Thank you for the quick response!

You're not on a clearance, but when you're getting flight following, you are generally required to follow any instructions they give you (there are exemptions to this that you'll find in the FAR when you are looking for "compliance with ATC instructions" - I forget the number.

I would add that even though you can certainly do whatever you like if you're not on a vector, ATC is generally expecting you to fly a direct route so they may quiz you on what you're doing. This doesn't mean they want you to fly a direct route, it just means they may want to know where you are going in case there are other flights in the area which may be affected by your current course.

You also don't have to go around MOAs if you don't want. One of the nice things about being on flight following is you can quiz ATC about whether a MOA is currently being used or not. Many times they will tell you there's no military traffic in the MOA, so you can just fly right through them with no worries.