See and Avoid Techniques  VFR Departures  Ground Communication Outlet  1-44  Maintain VFR until you have obtained your IFR clearance  and have ATC approval to proceed on course in accordance  with your clearance. If you accept this clearance and are  below the minimum IFR altitude for operations in the area,  you accept responsibility for terrain/obstruction clearance  until you reach that altitude.  A VFR departure dramatically changes the takeoff  responsibilities for you and for ATC. Upon receiving  clearance for a VFR departure, you are cleared to depart;  however, you must maintain separation between yourself  and other traffic. You are also responsible for maintaining  terrain and obstruction clearance, as well as remaining in  VFR weather conditions. You cannot fly in IMC without first  receiving your IFR clearance. Likewise, a VFR departure  relieves ATC of these duties and basically requires them  only to provide you with safety alerts as workload permits.  There may be times when you need to fly an IFR flight  plan due to the weather you will encounter at a later time  (or if you simply wish to fly IFR to remain proficient), but  the weather outside is clearly VFR. It may be that you can  depart VFR, but you need to get an IFR clearance shortly  after departing the airport. A VFR departure can be used as  a tool that allows you to get off the ground without having  to wait for a time slot in the IFR system, however, departing  VFR with the intent of receiving an IFR clearance in the air  can also present serious hazards worth considering.  Meteorological conditions permitting, you are required  to use “see and avoid” techniques to avoid traffic, terrain,  and other obstacles. To avoid obstacles during a departure,  the takeoff minimums may include a non-standard ceiling  and visibility minimum. These are given to pilots so they  can depart an airport without being able to meet the  established climb gradient. Instead, they must see and  avoid obstacles in the departure path. In these situations,  ATC provides radar traffic information for radar-identified  aircraft outside controlled airspace, workload permitting,  and safety alerts to pilots believed to be within an unsafe  proximity to obstacles or aircraft.  notification time, which is within 30 minutes of the original  void time. After the clearance void time, your reserved space  within the IFR system is released for other traffic.  There are several other ways to receive a clearance at a non- towered airport. If you can contact the FSS or ATC on the  radio, you can request your departure clearance. However,  these frequencies are typically congested, and they may  not be able to provide you with a clearance via the radio.  You also can use a Remote Communications Outlet (RCO)  to contact a FSS if one is located nearby. Some airports  have licensed UNICOM operators that can also contact ATC  on your behalf and, in turn, relay your clearance from ATC.  You are also allowed to depart the airport VFR, if conditions  permit, and contact the controlling authority to request  your clearance in the air. If there is a direct line to the  controlling ATC Facility, the phone number is published  in the Chart Supplement U.S. (formerly Airport/Facility  Directory (A/FD). As technology improves, new methods  for delivery of clearances at non-towered airports are being  created.  Ground Communication Outlets (GCO), have been  developed in conjunction with the FAA to provide pilots  flying in and out of non-towered airports with the capability  to contact ATC and AFSS via very high frequency (VHF)  radio to a telephone connection. This lets pilots obtain an  instrument clearance or close a VFR/IFR flight plan. You can  use four key clicks on your VHF radio to contact the nearest  ATC facility and six key clicks to contact the local AFSS, but it  is intended to be used only as a ground operational tool. A  GCO is an unstaffed, remote controlled ground-to-ground  communication facility that is relatively inexpensive to  install and operate. Installations of these types of outlets  are scheduled at instrument airports around the country.  GCOs are manufactured by different companies including  ARINC and AVTECH, each with different operating  characteristics but with the ability to accomplish the same  goal. This latest technology has proven to be an incredibly  useful tool for communicating with the appropriate  authorities when departing IFR from a non-towered airport.  The GCO should help relieve the need to use the telephone  to call ATC and the need to depart into marginal conditions  just to achieve radio contact. GCO information is listed on  airport charts and instrument approach charts with other  communications frequencies. Signs may also be located on  an airport to notify you of the frequency and proper usage. 