IMC training books

[GroundBound]

Does anyone know of a self-study book for the IMC rating, other than the IMC Confuser, or the IMC Q&A by Pratt?

Something that explains and teaches, rather than tests.

I've seen there are audio tapes, and DVD's. Anyone have any experience of them? Although, I'd rather have a book.

advTHANKSance

GB

[tartan 42]

I thought that IMC related subjects were covered in the Trevor Thom book 5 (I think) - the silver / grey colour book.

I might be wrong of course.
T-42

[GT]

Thom book 5 is as good as any other, in my opinion (as an instructor).

Regards, GT.

[Evo]

Thom book 5 is OK, not one of his best IMHO. The Jeppesen Instrument/Commercial Manual is much better but expensive in the UK (cheap in the US) and aimed at the FAA IR rather than the CAA IMC - most of the material still applies, but you'll need Thom (or a helpful instructor) for the UK specifics.

[IO540]

FS2004 is also a great help - should knock a good few hours from the time needed in the air.

[Fujiflyer]

GroundBound

Most of the IFR books are adequate as far as I am aware (certainly the Tom / Pratt books seems to cover the IMC rating syllabus fairly well). The Confuser, a few years back was a bit of a let down (had quite a few errors) but I heard it is now okay.

IO540 makes a sound point. Your best ground training would be to read through the textbook, get yourself some "plates" (airport Instruments procedures) study them and then fly it on the sim. Then study in detail the log and see how you did. You'll find its not easy.

I get a lot out of mine (OnTop) - I often practice an ILS with wind, turbulance and windshear set. A few sessions on it certainly make the impending IFR flight much easier.

[GroundBound]

Thanks all. Seems Mr thom's book is the most recommended - not currently available on Amazon though :{

Fuji & IO540, yes indeed, Ive spent many an hour instrument flying on FS, and acquired On Top, as well. They do help to develop a scan, and to understand the functioning of the navigation instruments.

My local flying school is hoping to obtain an approved instrument training simulator soon, so I can do a few hours on that too.

The biggest problem is that I won't be able to use the IMC rating over here, and will have to come to the UK to do the course. I believe (hope?) that the instrument hours flown here (including official simulator time) should be counted towards the hours for the IMC (they have been done with an approved JAA instructor/examiner).

However, I do need to study the UK IMC rules, at home, though - hence the need for the appropriate books.

GB

[DRJAD]

A further book, additional to the Trevor Thom book five, which I found useful and can recommend is by Monique Agazarian. (I believe I purchased this through Amazon.)

I don't hold with confusers, though that is a personal opinion only: I enjoy written examinations and relish the challenge.

I used RANT extensively during training for the IMC rating, and found it most useful. Unlike MSFS, it does not require one to purchase a 'joystick' (et al.) in order fully to make use of it.

[IO540]

GroundBound

I can't help with the Belgian IMC Rating (is there really one there; the airspace seems almost entirely Class B all over the country) but I would advise that you get every instrument flight signed in your logbook by the instructor. And make sure it says next to each one what the flight was.

I was told this in connection with the FAA IR; one's UK IMCR training hours can be used towards the FAA IR hours.

Otherwise, anybody could just invent the logbook entries.

On books, I personally don't like the Trevor Thom book 5. Unlike the rest of this books, it is very dis-jointed and was probably written by several different people. My copy also contained various diagrams (to do with NDB tracking I think) which were simply wrong; no instructor I showed them to could work them out.

The most important thing by far with IMCR training is to get an instructor who actually flies IFR to real places. His perspective will be very different to somebody who just teaches it in the abstract. That's assuming you want to fly to real places :O - you might not...

[ModernDinosaur]

I noticed that Pooleys have produced some new PPL training books. There seem to be three volumes, covering PPL(A), PPL(H) and PPL(A) IMC, and each is available in both "personal study" and "full course with OHP transparencies" variants. I have seen the PPL(A) one, and it does look quite good although I wasn't using it in anger. I am currently trying to get hold of the IMC book, but I haven't had much luck yet.

Cheers,

MD.

[tmmorris]

I like 'VOR, ADF and RMI', especially if like me you find ADF tracking hard to understand at first.

Tim