Originally Posted by
msoultan
So if someone does a long-distance trip, do you get handed off from a tower to TRACON to center to TRACON to tower? I'm doing heli so everything's been short
If you are not on an instrument flight plan, the answer to this is sometimes.
Outbound some Towers will arrange a handoff to TRACON. Some automatically; some if you ask; some simply won't but may give you the local TRACON frequency if asked so you don't have to look it up in the AFD.
Inbound most TRACON facilities will tell you the appropriate time to contact Tower, but if you're getting close to the Class D airspace for landing, it's ultimately your responsibility to prompt them for the switch.
TRACON to Center - usually. But remember that unless you are in Class C, for VFR flights, TRACON and Center Flight Following services are workload-permitting. That means you may or may not get handed off and also that you may not get the services at all.