Recently, Gary Drescher posted:

"Neil Gould" wrote in message
. ..
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.

Well, I did say the distinction was *primarily* a matter of
separation. Pete correctly points out some other aspects of the
distinction.

But regardless of what motivates the distinction, the point remains
that a clear, moonless night over the wilderness does not qualify as
IMC (even though the conditions require the use of instruments to
keep the plane upright), because flying in IMC, by definition,
requires being under Instrument Flight Rules and having a (current)
instrument rating; whereas flying over the wilderness on a clear,
moonless night can be done under Visual Flight Rules.

From the AIM Pilot/Controller Glossary:
"Instrument Meteorological Conditions- Meteorological conditions
expressed in terms of visibility, distance from cloud, and ceiling
less than the minima specified for visual meteorological conditions."

Point taken. I was inappropriately referring to "IMC" in my example.

Neil