Recently, Gary Drescher posted:

"Neil Gould" wrote in message
m...
Recently, Gary Drescher posted:

"Neil Gould" wrote in message
...
For example, a clear, moonless
night is also loggable as IMC, and goes all the way to the ground.
;-)

Well, it can be loggable as instrument time, but not as IMC--a
clear, moonless night is definitely not IMC.

If you spend any time over a large body of water or undeveloped
landscape on a moonless night, you may arrive at a different opinion
about that. I've done both, and they're definitely IMC.

It's just a matter of terminology. Yes, you're describing conditions
that require flying by instruments; and yes, the time spent in such
conditions is loggable as instrument time. But IMC has a specific
meaning under the FARs. It refers to visibility conditions that are
less than the specified minimums for Visual Flight Rules. If the
conditions you describe were really IMC, then you'd have to be
instrument rated and under IFR to fly in those conditions. But in
fact, there's no such requirement, because those conditions are not
IMC.

I think that Peter Duniho's response casts doubt on your perspective. The
way I see it, "I" and "V" indicate the mode used for control of the
aircraft; "MC" describes the conditions which require a particular mode of
control. I suspect that we can make these things far more convoluted than
they need to be.

Remember, VMC and IMC are defined primarily for purposes of
*separation* rather than aviation or navigation. You may still
need instruments to keep the plane right side up, but that's a
different matter.

How would this be a different matter? Far more accidents are due to
colliding with fixed obstacles and terrain than with other aircraft.

Regards,

Neil