Soaringhigh, no it's not. It's in 7-2-1, read the OP. As Looking says, rules are all well and good, the key is how they are applied.
learnatc, while I'm not familiar with operating in Class C IFR v VFR separation, I am familiar with Class A IFR v SVFR separation, albeit the SVFR traffic is rotary. Close in to the airport, where a visual circuit would be, it is all based on tower controller applying visual separation, in that s/he must have the IFR traffic and the SVFR traffic visual at all times. There is a visual helicopter crossing procedure we use, and there are weather limits set to ensure that the controller is visual with the IFR inbounds by the time they get to 3nm out (i.e. inside radar separation). If the weather is worse than this and a helicopter still has to cross the airfield, we would provide a gap in the inbound stream to ensure 3nm radar separation at all times.
We also are able to use geographical separation in a limited sense, where the SVFR traffic is north of a particular line feature that it itself is to the north of the airport (and thus north of the approaches/climbouts).
Last edited by Gonzo; 9th Jan 2014 at 20:49.