GASIL 2004/01 is now available online
Interesting as always.
Flying Lawyer,
Would you be able to comment on the section at the top of page 17 where it states that a PPL without an
instrument rating may not fly out of sight of the surface, outside the UK? It makes sense up to the last paragraph which seems wrong.
I can see nothing in the ANO that prevents an IMC rating holder flying out of sight of the surface anywhere (though clearly the laws of other countries may prohibit this, not in France though).
As far as I can tell (no legal experience here) the prohibition of flight out of sight of the surface (and perhaps more importantly the 10km vis for SVFR requirement) in Schedule 8 part A is waived unconditionally if the pilot has an IMC rating.
The part about the IMC rating in Part B of Schedule 8 lists a number of things that the IMC rating does
in the UK but doesn't say that it has no effect outside. (Curiously, it says different things for JAR licences than for UK licences here too, even though Part A has the same text for both).
I'd be grateful whether you can shed any light on this!
Mark