In a previous article, (Hankal) said:
why would you get clearence over the phone? I alway get my clearence on
the ground with tower or in the air without a tower. What am I missing?

You're missing the situation where you're at an untowered airport, and the
ceilings are so low and the nearest atc too far away that you can't get
your clearance in the air without penetrating the class E. So you phone
FSS and get a clearance with a void time, climb up high enough to be
heard, and tag up with atc.

--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
There are three kinds of people: Those who can count & those who can't.