Thanks all for the input. Not sure about the comment that this is a daft topic. The reason I wanted to clarify it was due to the AIB Preliminary Report on Rocket 2. Ok so he's in a twin, with and IR rating, but, when asked if he wants to transit IFR he says no he's ok he has good VMC on top. At this stage he's heading back to Redhill all looking good. Now regardless of whether he's a twin or a single, I think this was a safe place to be.
Now in a different scenario when I'm pootling along in my single continually ****ting myself that the engine is going to stop at any moment (cos they do all the time!!) and the weather starts to change let's say as I approaching Birmingham, I'm at 1500ft QNH and I'm transiting up the west side of the zone, I know there's some high ground coming up I'm being forced down to stay clear of the broken cloud. In order not to hit anything, I climb through a hole to 2,800ft, I'm still in sight of the surface and can fly without reference to my instruments (but why would I not use them?) am I not safer here than skud running with very little vis?
So if the weather gets worse and I'm stuck on top, and let's hope my planning has given me sufficient fuel to divert, I can talk to Birmingham and get help from them to find an airfield to land at.
At least I'm in a helicopter and I could auto down through a hole when my engine fails, better than a fixed wing which has to glide and find a field big enough to land in.
Cheers
Chippy