Narrative:

I filed IFR and received 'cleared as filed' to a town in north dakota from my departure point greenbay, wi. In my clearance I was told to climb to 3000 ft and expect 6000 ft (my filed altitude) 10 min after departure. I was also told to fly runway heading. I took off on an easterly heading and was immediately given heading 020 degrees, and shortly thereafter 360 degrees, which is a routing to the greenbay VOR and then my route west. I had been handed off to departure by this time. Departure then told me continue climb to 6000 ft, cleared direct greenbay VOR and continue filed route on victor airway as filed. Instead of reading back as I normally do, I keyed the microphone and said '(aircraft no.), roger.' I immediately thought to myself that I should have given a complete readback or at very least 'cleared to 6000 ft' to cover the new altitude, but before I could key the microphone again, the frequency was busy. It later occurred to me that there may have been a misunderstanding whether I was cleared to continue climb only after passing the VOR, although I thought that I was cleared immediately. A proper clearance readback might have caught such a discrepancy. In this case it was only an academic point because I was so close to the VOR that I was going to reach it before reaching 3000 ft anyway.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: PLT OF AN SMA SEL CONCERNED THAT HE CLBED TOO EARLY DURING DEP CLRNC SINCE HE HAD NOT READ BACK CLRNC TO ATC.

Narrative: I FILED IFR AND RECEIVED 'CLRED AS FILED' TO A TOWN IN N DAKOTA FROM MY DEP POINT GREENBAY, WI. IN MY CLRNC I WAS TOLD TO CLB TO 3000 FT AND EXPECT 6000 FT (MY FILED ALT) 10 MIN AFTER DEP. I WAS ALSO TOLD TO FLY RWY HDG. I TOOK OFF ON AN EASTERLY HDG AND WAS IMMEDIATELY GIVEN HDG 020 DEGS, AND SHORTLY THEREAFTER 360 DEGS, WHICH IS A ROUTING TO THE GREENBAY VOR AND THEN MY RTE W. I HAD BEEN HANDED OFF TO DEP BY THIS TIME. DEP THEN TOLD ME CONTINUE CLB TO 6000 FT, CLRED DIRECT GREENBAY VOR AND CONTINUE FILED RTE ON VICTOR AIRWAY AS FILED. INSTEAD OF READING BACK AS I NORMALLY DO, I KEYED THE MIKE AND SAID '(ACFT NO.), ROGER.' I IMMEDIATELY THOUGHT TO MYSELF THAT I SHOULD HAVE GIVEN A COMPLETE READBACK OR AT VERY LEAST 'CLRED TO 6000 FT' TO COVER THE NEW ALT, BUT BEFORE I COULD KEY THE MIKE AGAIN, THE FREQ WAS BUSY. IT LATER OCCURRED TO ME THAT THERE MAY HAVE BEEN A MISUNDERSTANDING WHETHER I WAS CLRED TO CONTINUE CLB ONLY AFTER PASSING THE VOR, ALTHOUGH I THOUGHT THAT I WAS CLRED IMMEDIATELY. A PROPER CLRNC READBACK MIGHT HAVE CAUGHT SUCH A DISCREPANCY. IN THIS CASE IT WAS ONLY AN ACADEMIC POINT BECAUSE I WAS SO CLOSE TO THE VOR THAT I WAS GOING TO REACH IT BEFORE REACHING 3000 FT ANYWAY.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.