While all of the above is true it isnt in the least bit scary. Just because you do your IR in a better equipped aircraft will not make much difference if you have mininmal IR time. Anyone who goes out flying hard IMC with even the fanciest kit and autopilot with 40 hours on instruments is asking an awful lot of themselves and thats assuming things go smoothly.
The FAA system allows the average guy to pay for a rating which will be very useful to him even if he never enters a cloud. He will be safer and have a much better appreciation and understanding of the traffic around him/her. Flying an approach to minima in an R22 with foggles and a screen is just as difficult as any other aircraft. Many operators in the U.S. specify it as a requirement for employment even if their machines are VFR only. They also do inadvertent IMC training for their VFR pilots and I would certainly feel that the % of pilots posessing IRs even if they never fly IMC is significantly higher.
Like in Europe many of the pilots begin their IR careers in the p2 seat which is without doubt the best place, and move on from there as they build up experience. And like in Europe, before operating public transport on an IFR machine a full VFR and IFR check on that machine is required whether p1 or p2.
An IR in an R22 may not be the ideal, but is certainly a great place to start. Try it.....
PS and one last point... Every N registered 747, 777, 767 etc you see in Heathrow has just been flown there by someone with the same rating from that same licensing authority... Maybe we need to be learning more from each other....
Last edited by Decks; 23rd Mar 2004 at 19:22.