GA pilot reported an airspace violation due to confusion and miscommunication with ATC.

Narrative:

I had planned to fly to an airport 60 miles to the east from the airport I departed from. I called ground; and requested flight following. He gave me information; and I was given taxi instructions. When I was almost to the assigned runway; I was told I needed to give on course heading to my destination. I gave him one; but later changed it because of confusion. Another change request; and the controller got confused and asked if I just wanted to cancel flight following; and I did.the airport was a class D; underlying a class C. My instructions I had received were to remain clear of class C; climb to 2500; and to the east. While almost out of the veil; departure said 'verify 2500 feet.' I confirmed this. I was told to change frequencies and squawk VFR; and later made it to my destination. I had done training at the airport before; so a friend of mine told me ATC had gotten angry over someone who had busted class C airspace. I realized class C started at 2200 feet; and a misunderstanding had occurred. I should have been more aware of the airspace dimensions; but I hadn't flown at the airport in two years; and assumed what I was given in my clearance would suffice for separation from it. On the other hand; the confusion on the ground and a misunderstanding during clearance relay was another cause of this incident I suppose. The airspace was not busy; so nothing came of it but frustration; but I surely do not want this to ever happen because it could be very dangerous.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: GA pilot reported an airspace violation due to confusion and miscommunication with ATC.

Narrative: I had planned to fly to an airport 60 miles to the east from the airport I departed from. I called ground; and requested flight following. He gave me information; and I was given taxi instructions. When I was almost to the assigned runway; I was told I needed to give on course heading to my destination. I gave him one; but later changed it because of confusion. Another change request; and the controller got confused and asked if I just wanted to cancel flight following; and I did.The airport was a class D; underlying a Class C. My instructions I had received were to remain clear of class C; climb to 2500; and to the east. While almost out of the veil; departure said 'verify 2500 feet.' I confirmed this. I was told to change frequencies and squawk VFR; and later made it to my destination. I had done training at the airport before; so a friend of mine told me ATC had gotten angry over someone who had busted class C airspace. I realized class C started at 2200 feet; and a misunderstanding had occurred. I should have been more aware of the airspace dimensions; but I hadn't flown at the airport in two years; and assumed what I was given in my clearance would suffice for separation from it. On the other hand; the confusion on the ground and a misunderstanding during clearance relay was another cause of this incident I suppose. The airspace was not busy; so nothing came of it but frustration; but I surely do not want this to ever happen because it could be very dangerous.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1420681
Time
Date	201701
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	LOU.Airport
State Reference	KY
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Small Aircraft High Wing 1 Eng Fixed Gear
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Route In Use	None
Flight Plan	None
Person 1
Function	Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Flight Instructor
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 10 Flight Crew Type 30
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Airspace Violation All Types Deviation - Procedural FAR