I'm looking for a place to do IMC training near to Welshpool. I would be delighted to do it in Welshpool, but it seems the instructor is only available over weekends and I only have a few weekends available between now and April. I find it much easier to take time off during the week.
I have a share in a C172, £80 per hour, that is suitable for IFR flying/training. Obviously I'd like to use that aircraft if possible to save costs. Does anybody have any suggestions as to good flying schools/instructors nearby who might enable this? Obviously I'm happy to pay the flying school a cut for overseeing the operation.
There has been a huge jump in the IMCR issues, from ~ 240 in 2010 to ~440 in 2011.
But, still way below the mean established in the 1990s when there were 1000 IMC ratings issued every year!
Pre JAA all FIs could teach for the IMC; post JAA it has not been cost effective for a FI to gain the now “additional qualification” to teach for the IMC. Under EASA it is virtually impossible to gain the qualification which will have major repercussions fot the modular commercial training industry.
How short sighted our incompetent rule makers are!
Those old figures are amazing!
However, the drop has been so huge, and during my UK training days (2000-2002) I never saw a shortage of instructors who could teach it, that I wonder if the drop is not due to some other factor.
The IMCR has been ritually slagged off by all sorts of self appointed sky gods on the UK pilot forums as a “get out of jail free card” etc, and the decline coincides with the growth of those internet sites. Most of them are in decline now and some of the “big personalities” who were constantly slagging it off have moved on, but it’s too late.
What qualification is required now to teach the IMCR?
Maybe the drop is to do with the increase of microlight type aircraft, which although they dont appeal to me, offer almost comparable performance capabilites to your basic C152/PA28, though without the right to fly in IMC or at night etc….
It is certainly true that the paper capability of many non-CofA types is good, there is no free lunch in physics and they achieve it by the use of thin (often flimsy) materials to get the light weight, and “intimate” cockpit dimensions. Anybody who thinks there is a free lunch in physics ought to walk around the Friedrichshafen show and poke a finger into the exhibits, and then try to get into and out of the ones where their finger doesn’t come through 
The other issue with IFR in the UK is that while anybody can practically (maybe not legally) fly in IMC but if you turn up at some airport and ask for the ILS, you are exposing yourself to anybody who knows more than zero about the regs, and IMHO it is a bit risky.
Maybe this will change at some stage but we are not there yet, and IMHO there is no way most non-CofA types will ever be IFR-permitted because they have no antistatic provisions, no lightning protection, and one could have a debate about the ability to cope with turbulence (notwithstanding the claim that they are “tested” to +3.8G or whatever).
Think a number of factors are seeing a decline in the IMC -
Move towards LSA and micro light types
Squeeze on cost so people don’t want to pay training/approach fees and are saving their limited money to fly on decent weather days.
Uncertainty over future.
Declining number of instructors to teach – especially now need 200hrs IFR for IRI course.
More schools not investing in IFR capable aircraft.
Those that think there will be a huge uptake in the CBMIR and EIR are deluded in my opinion. I predict the uptake will be a limited number of well off owner/operators and touring types.
I suspect that there’s been quite a large shift from CofA ownership to LAA ownership and since LAA types cannot currently (legally) fly IMC it follows that many people won’t bother with the IMCR. However, there are moves to allow some LAA types to be certified for IMC, moves which AIUI are at quite an advanced stage, and if that does happen I would be surprised if demand for the IMCR doesn’t increase as a result.
I think it is fair to say that a number of factors have lead to the reduction in numbers especially the uncertainty regarding the future of the IMC. In the past (pre 1999) it was a mandatory requirement for instructors, and would-be commercial pilots could gain a 10 hour credit towards the CPL by holding an IMC rating. It was also regarded as a useful qualification by Insurance companies when specifying minimum requirements for group ownership and may well still be.
From an instructors perspective, the IMC has not been mandated since 1999 so there has been a choice and whilst most instructors held the qualification, only a small percentage opted to pay for the additional qualification to teach for the IMC because it was unlikely that anyone other than a career instructor would ever recover the cost.
Since 2012 there has been an almost 100% drop in Instrument Instructor courses because nobody meets the EASA pre-entry requirements and there is no posibility of ever recovering the cost from teaching IMC. There has been one interesting change and that is instrument instructors have started to emerge from the PPL/IR fraternity and retired airline pilots.
The future of the EIR and CBM IR is likely to be uncertain due to the vast reduction in instructors who will be ablke to teach for it. The cost for an ATO to gain an IR approval really renders the whole thing unfeasable so any ATOs that do conduct such training are likely to be few and very expensive.
But don’t worry folks, EASA has a plan to accept ICAO qualifications simply on the basis of a flight tst and an aural with the examiner, thereby short circuiting the entire EASA system. It may even be in place before the EIR and CBM IR!
Hi guys,
I think I know the answer to this, but if I am mistaken, I thought I was check as it would be ‘nice to have’.
Does my FAA IR ticket provide any enhancement in privileges when using my EASA PPL inside or outside UK? Or does it provide a short-cut to an IMC/IR(R) or any other benefit I could use it for?
DMEarc
I know the historical answer but I don’t know if it is still true under EASA FCL.
Firstly, you could fly a G-reg, worldwide, VFR, on any ICAO PPL (yes not many people knew that).
Secondly, if you had any ICAO IR, you could fly that G-reg, worldwide, IFR, but only outside controlled airspace. The usefulness of that privilege was of course severely limited because practically all Eurocontrol IFR flight is in CAS. And even hacking in Class G, you could have landed IFR at say Biggin EGKB (Class G) but not at Bournemouth EGHH (Class D). And similarly abroad…
Thirdly, the holder of any ICAO IR could have applied for the IMC Rating, just by filling in a form and sending it to the CAA with a cheque for about £70. (For FAA IR holders, the CAA did not honour the FAA 6/6 rolling currency principle and required that you had flown with an FAA CFII for an IPC within the preceeding 24 (?) months.)
The first two privileges above were due to end in 2012, but they continue for non-EASA aircraft (basically UK Annex 2 i.e. aircraft without an ICAO CofA). That 2012 date might have been extended, in line with the 2014 and later 2015 derogation in the “EASA FCL N-reg pilot shafting” regs.
The last one, using an ICAO IR to get an IMCR directly, may still be available.
I will see if anybody knows…
