VFR over the top
As winter weather is sometimes naughty and sometimes nice, you might be tempted to depart an airport in VFR conditions and fly above a cloud level to another airport. This is called VFR over the top.
As long as you maintain VFR visibility and cloud separation requirements on takeoff, climbout, and while above the cloud layer - and again on descent and landing - a certificated private pilot can fly VFR over the top. No ATC clearance is required. (Student pilots must maintain visual contact with the ground during solo flight, so VFR over the top isn't permitted for them.)
Just because you can fly VFR over the top doesn't mean you should, however. More than one VFR pilot has been stranded above a solid layer looking for a "sucker hole" to descend through and wondering just how the heck he got there.
Tempting as it might be to climb above a bumpy broken ceiling in search of smoother air, don't do it unless you know what's waiting for you. Get a thorough weather briefing for your route of flight, and talk to the briefer about what you're considering. He or she will be able to provide some insight about weather patterns along your route that could make things very bad very quickly. For more, see "Over the Top: The pros and cons of flying VFR above the clouds," July 2001, AOPA Flight Training. Plan where you'll divert to should you get caught on top.
Once aloft, remember that weather changes constantly and an airport that was VFR an hour ago might not be when you get there. Call Flight Watch on 122.0 MHz for regular updates. Be ready to divert or do a one-eighty.
You might see the term VFR on top used interchangeably with VFR over the top, but actually VFR on top is an authorization for an IFR aircraft to operate in VFR conditions at any appropriate VFR altitude (as specified in the federal aviation regulations and restricted by ATC). A pilot receiving this authorization must comply with the VFR visibility and distance from cloud criteria, as well as the minimum IFR altitudes specified in FAR Part 91.
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