Originally Posted by AndrewR
My understanding is that most of the USA has class E down to either 1200' or 800' AGL. The idea is to provide ATC separation services to IFR aircraft, including during an instrument approach. If IFR separation is not required i.e. VMC, the aircraft can cancel IFR and proceed VFR.
It is a pity that you and others don't appear to understand the fundamental problem with E airspace. That is, VFR do not know where the IFR is and IFR do not know where the VFR is. In effect, in seductively nice weather, some think we can all just look out the window and See and Avoid. But that's not how it works. It is impossible to effectively see and avoid when flying fast turboprops/jets. You won't see me and I won't see you. Dick Smith acknowledged the dangers of Class E when he implemented mandatory transponders for all aircraft in E in an attempt to mitigate this intractable issue.