PA28 COMPLETES TOUCH AND GO AT MIE WITHOUT TWR CLRNC.

Narrative

I WAS ON A XCOUNTRY FLT FROM LAF TO SBN; THEN TO MIE; AND BACK TO LAF FROM THERE. AS I NEARED SOUTH BEND ON THE FIRST LEG OF MY TRIP; I CALLED APCH 20 MI OUT AND WAS GIVEN A SQUAWK CODE AND TOLD TO FLY A 360 DEG HDG. I DID AS I WAS TOLD AND WHEN I WAS ABOUT 8 MI FROM THE ARPT; APCH CALLED AGAIN. HE SAID 'ACFT X; ENTER A R BASE FOR RWY 9R; RPT THE ARPT IN SIGHT; AND REMAIN ON THIS FREQ.' I REPLIED 'ENTER A R BASE FOR RWY 9R; I HAVE THE ARPT IN SIGHT; REMAIN ON THIS FREQ; ACFT X.' BEING A LOW-TIME PLT WITH LITTLE EXPERIENCE IN CLASS C AIRSPACE; I DON'T YET HAVE A GOOD FEEL FOR WHEN TO JUST WAIT FOR HIM TO CALL AGAIN OR TO CALL AND ASK FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS. SO I DECIDED TO CONTINUE FLYING AS I HAD BEEN TOLD; FIRST FLYING THE R BASE THEN TURNING TO FINAL AT THE APPROPRIATE TIME. EVIDENTLY; APCH FORGOT ABOUT ME; BECAUSE HE NEVER CALLED AGAIN TO TELL ME TO SWITCH TO TWR. I MADE THE ASSUMPTION (WHICH IS A BAD THING TO DO) THAT BECAUSE HE SAID TO REMAIN ON HIS FREQ AND NEVER SAID OTHERWISE; THAT HE WANTED ME TO STAY ON APCH THE WHOLE WAY IN. SO I DID MY TOUCH-AND-GO WITHOUT ANY OTHER TFC IN SIGHT AND REMAINED ON THE RWY HDG DURING MY CLBOUT BECAUSE I HADN'T BEEN TOLD WHAT TO DO AFTER MY TOUCH AND GO. A FEW MINS LATER; WHEN I WAS ABOUT 10 MI FROM THE ARPT; APCH CALLS AGAIN AND SAYS 'ACFT DID YOU EVER SWITCH TO TWR FREQ?' AS I REPLIED 'NO; I WAS INSTRUCTED TO REMAIN ON THIS FREQ; ACFT X;' I REALIZED MY MISTAKE. A MOMENT LATER A PERSON (I'M GUESSING A SUPVR THERE) GETS ON THE RADIO AND THOROUGHLY (AND APPROPRIATELY) CHEWS ME OUT: 'ACFT X; I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU WERE TOLD TO STAY ON THIS FREQ; BUT YOU WERE 8 MI OUT AT THE TIME. WE HAVE A PERFECTLY GOOD CTL TWR ON THE FIELD; STAFFED BY PEOPLE WHO KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING. YOU DID A TOUCH AND GO WITHOUT CLRNC.' SHE CONTINUED ON FOR A FEW MORE SECONDS ON THE TOPIC OF CLRNC; BUT I'M NOT GOING TO TRY TO WRITE IT OUT HERE BECAUSE I CAN'T REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT SHE SAID AND I ALREADY UNDERSTOOD THE EXTENT OF MY MISTAKE. I REPLIED 'UNDERSTOOD; I'M SORRY; ACFT X;' AND FOLLOWED INSTRUCTIONS TELLING ME THAT I COULD MAKE MY TURN ONTO COURSE FOR MUNCIE. SOUTH BEND DID NOT ASK FOR MY INFO OR TELL ME TO CALL THE TWR ONCE I GOT BACK ON THE GND. I'M GUESSING THAT THEY REALIZED FROM MY TAIL NUMBER THAT I'M FROM A FLT SCHOOL (AND THUS IT WAS A TRAINING SIT) AND THAT THE PERSON WHO CHEWED ME OUT SEEMED TO BE SATISFIED THAT SHE GOT HER POINT ACROSS IN 45 SECONDS ON THE RADIO. THE 2 MAJOR MISTAKES IN THIS SIT WERE MY FAILURE TO CONTACT TWR AND APCH FORGETTING TO TELL ME TO. I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER; AND FROM THIS EXPERIENCE I WILL NOT BE HESITANT TO CALL APCH FOR PERMISSION TO CALL TWR IN THE FUTURE; ALSO; IF FOR SOME REASON I'M IN THE SAME SIT AGAIN AND APCH DOESN'T CALL BACK CLRING ME TO CHANGE TO TWR FREQ; I WILL START A GAR. IT WAS AN HONEST MISTAKE AND I'VE LEARNED MY LESSON. I DON'T KNOW THE CIRCUMSTANCES BEHIND THE APPARENT FORGETFULNESS OF APCH. THE ARPT SEEMED FAIRLY QUIET AT THE TIME (I THINK THERE WERE 1 OR 2 REGIONAL JETS AND 4 OR 5 GA PLANES OPERATING IFR IN THE AREA) AND THE FREQ WAS NOT CONGESTED. I DON'T HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR HOW TO PREVENT THIS FROM HAPPENING AGAIN FROM THE APCH SIDE. ON THE PLT SIDE HOWEVER; IF I EVER BECOME A CFI (AND I INTEND TO EVENTUALLY); I WILL STRESS TO MY STUDENTS THAT THEY SHOULDN'T BE HESITANT TO CALL APCH IF IN DOUBT ABOUT SWITCHING FREQS OR THEIR CLRNC TO LAND.