Thanks to a lovely woman inthe rotary wing forum.....she had this to say....
THIS IS QUITE LEGAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was told about it by my flying instructor, and I asked an accountant, who told me to phone the VAT helpline and check. I did, and they said it was fine. I didn't set up a limited company; I simply said I was a sole trader, a helicopter pilot, training at the moment. Being self-employed anyway, I had to register my day job for VAT too, but that actually saved me money. My accountant set it all up for me, although I do my own quarterly returns now, as it's very easy.
Don't believe it? Well, a couple of months later, I got a phone call from my VAT office, to ask me how I was getting on. I told them fine, and asked again if it was legal to claim training costs, emphasising (honest soul that I am) that I wasn't likely to be earning any money from helicopter flying for at least a couple of years. ""Helicopter pilot?" said the lady: "That's interesting. Never had one of those. Some training you can and some you can't; let me look it up". She did and assured me it was quite legal. After a bit of further chat, she asked what my turnover was. She then told me I was well below the VAT threshold, but then: "Oh, I see, you just registered to claim back VAT on your helicopter training really, didn't you?". I said yes, I had, and she said that was quite legal.
So hope it helps...