Originally Posted by
Whopity
Then you should be flying VFR not IFR!
I'm sorry, but you are wrong, most fundamentally so.
There is a real problem here, and I suggest that its roots lie in the fact that the Rules of the Air are taught as a dry topic in order to enable people to pass exams, and then are only revised by means of flying club chatter. Having followed this thread, and others like it, this causes me concern.
There is absolutely nothing in the IFR to prevent visual flight, indeed it is specifically provided for in Rule 29(d).
Selection of IFR or VFR is sometimes driven by met conditions, but very much more often by operators' policies. For example, scheduled operators almost invariably operate IFR - and yet carry out visual approaches as a matter of course. Those visual approaches are conducted under IFR. This provides for particular protections, notably in terms of separation from other traffic.