IFR is a set of rules that has nothing to do with cloud!
Thank you, Whopity, this needs banging into people's heads.
Unfortunately, this seems to have crept up as a confusion recently, what with the requirement in some places for so many hours 'IFR flight' to be able to teach flight by sole reference to instruments. Unless I've mis-interpreted stuff I've read recently, in some places you have to have an IR in order to be able to fly in accordance with the Instrument Flight Rules. That's in a country that's notoriously flat.
Anyhow, we use a hood; rather have screens but not an option for us. We have excellent RADAR cover and no airspace issues so we can go cloud flying for greater realism. Using a map or similar to cover the windscreen is a no-no as it obscures the instructor/safety pilot's view.
TOO