OBK!
Firstly, in case you think that any of my comments are anti genaeral aviation, I'm one of the many ATCOs who also holds a PPL.
Believe me, we have far more important things to think about than checking whether a light a/c under a FIS is too low or performing aeros. You can be sure as hell that we're not watching you
that closely
. The public will do that for us. If you were doing it under a RIS then we'd probably first ask if you were OK, then if you were, probably what the hell you were up to.
are you bothered if you see someone in a Pa28 doing fairly steep durns/large variations in altitude .....attempting aero's.....
If a PPL is stupid enough to try aeros in a PA28, the wings will probably drop off and there will be one less idoit on earth
I know that's a little harsh but I would often like to know
what PPLs are thinking about. I'm sure SOME of them must have had their brains removed as soon as their licence dropped onto their doormat
As some who provides a LARS service, if you've got Mode C then I would ask you to use it. We find a very useful tool for providing traffic info. & separation. Mainly to keep a check on your maximum altitude when descending IFR traffic over the top of you rather than checking to see if you've ducked down to 500ft(at which point we're probably not picking up your squawk at all).
Finally, what goes through my mind. Usually:-
Who's making the coffee?
When's my next break?