Instrument Rating Part Time

[GoldenMonkey]

What is the general consensus on this one?
I have my CPL passed and am wanting to start the IR. Due to various financial and 'family' constraints, I am committed to carry on working. This would leave me with evening (simulator) sessions and weekends for the IR course. I'd be interested to hear views from people who have gone down the part time IR route?
Particularly:
1) Did it take longer than the typically prescribed 50 hours and consequently hit the pocket harder?
2) Were you able to pass first time?

Thanks in advance.

[Baron buzz]

Hi there,

I did both my CPL and IR part time whilst working the rest of the week. I used to work tuesday, wednesday and thursday at my company, then fly friday, saturday and sunday. Only having mondays off was tiring and would have been even more so if i had family or other commitments. Would definately recommend atleast one day off a week otherwise you might burn out. I also feel that you need time off to reflect on what you have learnt.

I needed an extra 1.2 hours before my IR test and passed first time. Dont think doing it part time made any difference to me passing first time or needing the extra 1.2 hours. Seemed most people needed atleast that whether they did it part time or full time.

Best of luck!

[High Wing Drifter]

I'm doing my CPL part-time at the moment and will be doing my IR as such too. For the IR I plan to take two weeks off for the final furlong and the test.

[Vortex Thing]

Sorry to add a negative view. I'm afraid that as I only did the IR the once and I did it full time I cannot say what it must be like.

However I did do my IR at a very large commercial school where there were a few part timers. The part timers found it considerably more difficult I asuume due to continuity.

Further on though as I came through military training when we had periods of more than 3 days without flying there was a noticeable difference in your own performance.

IMHO if there is anyway ata llto accrue your leave or even take unpaid time off then do this but part time is only really a consideration if you happen to be naturally suited to IR whic many aren't and even then do you want to just acheive the tick in the box or really get it down pat cos some day someone is gonna ask you to step in a sim where you can run but you can't glide :)

[give me an axe]

at my flying school there were some part timers (i was full time) and as mentioned above, they struggled more, generally few of them got first time passes.

plus, if you are part time and you have a bad spell of weather it could be a considerable time between flights. At least if you are full time, you are there ready to take advantage of any small openeing in the weather......

[Baron buzz]

As i said i did mine part time and because i did it at weekends i was able to take advantage of better sim, aircraft and instructor availability. Its all down to the sort of person you are, and as i needed to work there was no way i was going to be able to do it full time. It is possible if you havent got too many distractions outside of the work/flying environment.

best of luck.

[Biscuit]

Baron buzz,

Just a couple of questions if you don't mind. How many weeks did it take you to complete the IR from start to finish? Also, what time of year did you start?

Thanks!

Biscuit

[Baron buzz]

Started my IR 1st weekend of july (i think) and completed my IR test on september the 1st, this year. Missed a weekend in july because of my birthday and on another couple of occasions only flew two of the three days allocated.

Towards the end i took a couple of days off to do the test, and have a continuous run of training before it. The test went fine, which of course was a huge relief!

The only way however, of completing the CPL/IR like this was in my opinion doing at a very good school and having the support of other poeple in my life. If that hadnt of been the situation, things could have been very different!

hope it helps - please, feel free to ask anything else you may want to.

[buzzc152]

Hi there.

I did my CPL part time (weekends only) and passed 1st time with no problems.

I'm now about 32 hrs into my IR (part-time) and am having no problems at all....... certainly not behind in comparison to a full timer at the 32 the hour stage.

I have a very full time job in London and so have been doing 2 evenings in the sim during the week and aircraft/sim at the weekend. I've just about finished all the sim stuff so am stepping up the aircraft hours to 1 evening during the week and a couple at the weekend. I'll be taking a week or so off in the final run up to the test.

It's not ideal and I owe a lot to my instructor who has re-arranged his schedule to suit me (don't know many instructors who would hang around until 10pm in the sim with me). It can be done though. It depends so much on individual circumstances and aptitude really. I'd say give it a bash for 10 hours or something and see how you get on. If it's obvious you can't keep up then stop there and wait until you can dedicate more time to it.

However, a few tips and hints ; get as many back seat rides as possible. These are absolutley invaluable. You learn so much from other peoples mistakes..... and they're free !! And secondly, the biggest drawback I have found doing it part-time is that you miss out on all the banter with the full timers. Again, this is invaluable as you can pick up all sorts of tit bits and good advice. So, if you're going part time, try and get chummy with the other students.

Feel free to PM me if you like.

Buzz

ps, I'm with Stapleford.
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