VMC limits can be somewhat relaxed when you are close to an aerodrome
Yeah, I recall the first flight of mine in a new aircraft with a now mate and BA training captain. As we lined up I thought to myself this will be interesting, I am about to get a lesson in real isntrument flying. Well we departed, nearly took a look at the white bits which seemed to me pretty solid at about 500 feet, my mate smiled, said he didnt like the look of it, we did a circuit, and were back on the ground in short order.
Thank you for bringing back the memory.