Narrative:

We received and departed on a VFR on top clearance to the north practice area from runway 16 in dab. After departure; we were instructed to turn to a left heading of 070 followed by another left turn to 030 degrees. Winds were coming from the south at about 20 kts; we had a ground speed of about 115-120 kts while climbing out at 85 KIAS. We reached VFR conditions on top at 3000 ft and requested a turn northbound to stay closer to the shore. Dab approach control was busy at the time so the request had to be repeated at least 3 times before a response was received. The request was denied and we were instructed to contact departure control. After making the same request; in addition to requesting a higher altitude; ATC informed us they would be unable to grant either and asked why we wanted one. I informed them we needed to stay closer to the shore to remain within gliding distance. ATC asked if we were on top. I informed them that yes we were on top and thereafter requested to terminate IFR as we could maintain VFR at the time. Departure acknowledged the termination of IFR and told us we could turn on course. We acknowledged; turned northbound and climbed to 4000 ft. Departure then informed us we could not 'solicit' a clearance but had to request it. We proceeded northbound along the shoreline with no further incident. With the wind conditions at the time (winds coming out of the south) we could have glided to shore from 3000 ft and certainly from 4000 ft; I estimate we were about 3-4 miles from shore before we turned northbound.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Instructor and student depart with an IFR to VFR on top clearance but are unsure of what to do next in order to practice training maneuvers. Eventually instructor cancels IFR.

Narrative: We received and departed on a VFR on top clearance to the north practice area from Runway 16 in DAB. After departure; we were instructed to turn to a left heading of 070 followed by another left turn to 030 degrees. Winds were coming from the south at about 20 kts; we had a ground speed of about 115-120 kts while climbing out at 85 KIAS. We reached VFR conditions on top at 3000 ft and requested a turn northbound to stay closer to the shore. DAB Approach Control was busy at the time so the request had to be repeated at least 3 times before a response was received. The request was denied and we were instructed to contact Departure Control. After making the same request; in addition to requesting a higher altitude; ATC informed us they would be unable to grant either and asked why we wanted one. I informed them we needed to stay closer to the shore to remain within gliding distance. ATC asked if we were on top. I informed them that yes we were on top and thereafter requested to terminate IFR as we could maintain VFR at the time. Departure acknowledged the termination of IFR and told us we could turn on course. We acknowledged; turned northbound and climbed to 4000 ft. Departure then informed us we could not 'solicit' a clearance but had to request it. We proceeded northbound along the shoreline with no further incident. With the wind conditions at the time (winds coming out of the south) we could have glided to shore from 3000 ft and certainly from 4000 ft; I estimate we were about 3-4 miles from shore before we turned northbound.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of May 2009 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.