Narrative:

On a VFR flight to san carlos using ATC flight following the entire trip to sql; I was instructed to cross the san jose airport mid field at 4;500 feet MSL. I was then to follow just west of highway 101 to san carlos under the class B airspace. I have made this trip many times using ATC services. After crossing sjc about to turn northwest bound; the controller advised '…altitude your discretion'. I began a VFR descent expecting an immediate hand off and the frequency for moffett field which was usually given quickly (nuq is only a few miles from sjc). In the past an altitude of 2;000 to 2;500 feet was given to cross through the nuq class D initially while awaiting further instructions from moffett tower. This time no hand off was initiated by the controller until I asked; '…are you going to hand me off to moffett tower?' by this time I was abeam moffett at around 2;000 to 2;500 feet MSL and the controller then instructed; '…contact san carlos tower 119.0.' I was confused by this and said; '…san carlos tower?' he replied; '…affirmative.' this was surprising and a little confusing to me. I acknowledged the instruction changed over to san carlos tower who instructed me to proceed straight in to runway 30. I was about a mile west of highway 101 as I passed palo alto airport off to my right without talking to either moffett or palo alto towers for clearance through their class D airspace. Was early handoff by the TRACON controller to the san carlos [airport] correct? This had never happened before and I interpreted it to mean these two towers were being advised by ATC and approved of my transition through their airspace guided by the TRACON and/or san carlos tower. I was a few hundred feet lower than the published tops of both the nuq and pao class D airspace (there were a few clouds drifting over highway 101 abeam pao that caused me to get down around 1;500 feet MSL to clear them). Nothing was ever said to me about this by any other ATC controller so I assume there was no problem with what I did but I am not comfortable with this situation and I am writing this report as a result. In short; the lack of the hand off to nuq and pao by the controller which I always considered normal in the past leaves me uncertain about what was correct.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: GA pilot reported confusion as to whether or not the aircraft had been pointed out to various ATC facilities while transiting the airspace to the destination.

Narrative: On a VFR flight to San Carlos using ATC flight following the entire trip to SQL; I was instructed to cross the San Jose Airport mid field at 4;500 feet MSL. I was then to follow just west of Highway 101 to San Carlos under the Class B airspace. I have made this trip many times using ATC services. After crossing SJC about to turn NW bound; the controller advised '…altitude your discretion'. I began a VFR descent expecting an immediate hand off and the frequency for Moffett Field which was usually given quickly (NUQ is only a few miles from SJC). In the past an altitude of 2;000 to 2;500 feet was given to cross through the NUQ Class D initially while awaiting further instructions from Moffett Tower. This time no hand off was initiated by the controller until I asked; '…are you going to hand me off to Moffett Tower?' By this time I was abeam Moffett at around 2;000 to 2;500 feet MSL and the controller then instructed; '…Contact San Carlos Tower 119.0.' I was confused by this and said; '…San Carlos Tower?' He replied; '…affirmative.' This was surprising and a little confusing to me. I acknowledged the instruction changed over to San Carlos Tower who instructed me to proceed straight in to RWY 30. I was about a mile west of Highway 101 as I passed Palo Alto airport off to my right without talking to either Moffett or Palo Alto Towers for clearance through their Class D airspace. Was early handoff by the TRACON Controller to the San Carlos [airport] correct? This had never happened before and I interpreted it to mean these two towers were being advised by ATC and approved of my transition through their airspace guided by the TRACON and/or San Carlos Tower. I was a few hundred feet lower than the published tops of both the NUQ and PAO Class D airspace (there were a few clouds drifting over Highway 101 abeam PAO that caused me to get down around 1;500 feet MSL to clear them). Nothing was ever said to me about this by any other ATC controller so I assume there was no problem with what I did but I am not comfortable with this situation and I am writing this report as a result. In short; the lack of the hand off to NUQ and PAO by the controller which I always considered normal in the past leaves me uncertain about what was correct.

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.