ark (07/27/82)
I believe that the following situations are not adequately defined in the FARs. I would like other opinions as to what the regs actually say. Suppose you are on an IFR flight plan at night over open water. The weather is clear with unrestricted visibility. There is no moon, and the stars are less bright than the reflections of the panel lights in the windshield. There is thus no horizon and no ground reference. Anyone who has flown in such a situation knows that the airplane is uncontrollable without the instruments, and thus you should be entitled to log that time as actual instrument time, as much as if you were in clouds. But this aforementioned flight would in fact be legal under VFR. If I am doing it under VFR, can I log actual instrument time? Does it matter if I am instrument-rated? If I can't log it as actual instrument time, what can I log it as? Simulated instrument time? With no safety pilot?