mark147
I saw something recently about the ANO being supposedly amended recently. So I got the current copy from
http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/cap393.pdf
which is April 2003, with some Dec 2003 amendments.
Firstly, it is clear the PRIVILEGES of the IMCR itself are limited to the UK - that is clear from schedule 8 page 18. The question is whether this is relevant to flying VMC on top because the bit about having to be in sight of surface is elsewhere and isn't limited to the UK.
In schedule 8 page 2 it says (under PPL privileges)
>He shall not, unless his licence includes an instrument rating (aeroplane) or an
>instrument meteorological conditions rating (aeroplanes), fly as pilot in command
>of such an aeroplane:
>(i) on a flight outside controlled airspace when the flight visibility is less than
>3 km;
>(ii) on a special VFR flight in a control zone in a flight visibility of less than 10
>km except on a route or in an aerodrome traffic zone notified for the
>purpose of this subparagraph; or
>(iii) out of sight of the surface.
which contains no UK-only restriction. Same on page 3 and page 11.
Page 18 specifies some privileges of the IMCR and that is limited to the UK but that part doesn't limit you to being in sight of the surface; it merely removes some requirements e.g. not flying in conditions requiring IFR.
The latest PDF of the ANO is nicely text-searchable.
So I don't think anything has changed. Also the CAA letter I have is dated 1 month after page 18 of Sched 8 was last amended.
But the ANO is a weirdly worded document, and I may not be reading it right...