I was flying a rented Cessna over water, with a sleepy passenger...do other pilots get nervous flying over wide expanses of water? At about 12,000 feet, I was flying under control, abeam Tallahassee, Florida. The controller noticed that I was wandering a bit, and so I was, having noticed that the fuel gauges did not agree, one said nearly empty, the other read full. He gently reminded me that I had strayed from the proper heading, and I said, well I wasn't certain whether or not I had a problem with the fuel gauges.
Instantly he came back and asked "Do you want to declare an emergency?" Not really, not yet. The controller said that Tallahassee was abeam, about 30 miles or so. That seemed like a good idea. The controller then told me to turn on the heading for Tallahassee, and descend to 4,000 feet. I said negative, If I am going to be flying a glider I want as much height as possible! The controller agreed completely, said he had cleared any conflicting traffic, and I could come in to the State Capital at any altitude I required. So I did, and having the airfield in sight, I descended, landed, taxied to the apron, and ascertained there was plenty of fuel in each tank, and so no worries, as typical of a beat up rented Cessna. Getting dark by now - it gets dark quicker if you are flying in December on an Easterly course. Anyhow, no further problems, arrived safely on a beautiful morning, St. Petersburg Florida. My passenger had every confidence, slept the whole way!

That reminds me of something else I have never done: flown an aircraft with reliable/meaningful/useful fuel gauges.

If you dip the tanks, who needs fuel gauges :-0

Anyone with a leak, or a blockage, or a faulty mixture control, or ... or ...

Nope, Roger does not indicate that you will carry out some action, Roger means you've received the message, nothing else. If there was an instruction to which you wil​​​​l co​​​​​mply, guess what you say?

Robin HR200 - useful, reliable fuel gauge and you can't dip the tank.

Could you clarify for me? If someone told me I could take off at my discretion, as an instruction at a controlled field, surely I would need to tell them "cleared for takeoff" and confirm the runway.

I would never enter a runway at the airport I fly from without hearing the words "cleared for takeoff RwyXX" from Tower Frequency. Are we discussing the same scenario?

James, you shouldn't hear "take off at your discretion" at a controlled airfield.

​​​​​​Thank you. I didn't feel we were discussing the same scenario.

I was also under the impression a none controlled field couldn't use the words takeoff as A/G aren't allowed to issue a clearance?

From CAP413:

In the UK, additional phrases, LAND At YOUR DISCREtION and tAKE-OFF At YOUR DISCREtION are used.

eg by an Aerodrome Flight Information Service Officer (AFISO) who cannot give a clearance - only "advice and information useful for the safe and efficient conduct of flights in the Aerodrome Traffic Zone."



These phrases may be used under certain conditions and indicate that a landing clearance or a take-off clearance cannot be issued and any landing or take-off is to be conducted at the pilot’s discretion.



eg

G-CD, runway 06 take-off at your discretion, surface wind 270 degrees 15 knots

Runway 06 taking off G-CD


[revision going well ;-) ]

It is possible, if a FISO (used at some Scottish airfields out-of-hours) is undergoing training/competency check from an ATCO. Usually this will be clearly stated on ATIS or on first contact however. ("Full ATC Service available on request")

TelsBoy - so, would that be a controlled field if it was a FISO operating and full ATC was only available on request?

It could be addresses to a helicopter on a remote (non-runway) part of a controlled aerodrome.