justinmg
In the CAA doc you link to the words "To conduct an ILS approach
inside or outside controlled airspace one (FM immune) ILS receiver is
required" do indeed appear. The question is where from; the CAA writes a lot of "guidance material" which has no legal basis.
Referring to Schedule 5, ILS (category G in the table) is required when
(c) when making an approach to landing at an aerodrome notified for the purpose of this sub-paragraph
I don't disagree with you at this point (though your view is suprising since a lot of people have looked at this before) but where can one find a list of aerodromes notified for the purpose of the table in Schedule 5?
rustle
My "sample size" of IMCR instructors is about 10, over say 5 years, of which none had a valid IR, and only about 1 or 2 ever held an IR. For various obscure reasons I flew with several myself, none of them being any good for teaching how to go places.
My comment on JAA IR training not teaching people how to get about on the practical UK IFR scene is confirmed by every JAA IR holder I have met; perhaps a dozen. The JAA IR training is wholly geared up for would-be ATPs. However, all of those I have met knew the stuff from previous experience, typically using the IMCR, so they were not in the slightest bothered and they just regarded the "IR" as a highly desirable airways ticket. The poster starting this thread seems to be an exception in that he seems to have got himself an IR without ever having done any real IFR flying, which is very unusual for someone who isn't an aspiring ATP (perhaps he is).
I can also add, from personal experience, that the FAA IR does teach you what you need to know to fly IFR/airways. Unfortunately it teaches this relative to the American IFR system. In Europe, airways route planning can be a nightmare, and in the UK pilots do stuff which Americans would be horrified at (like DIY approaches) but then the Yanks don't need to do them because most places over there have an IAP.
My comments on the general standard of PPL training being crap are based on a pretty large sample size of instructors. Also, every time I fly I see or hear somebody whose instructor should be spoken to.
I think a lot depends on the pilot's motivation. Probably the majority of punters just want to learn to fly for the fun of it, and post-PPL there is very little motivation. It's also difficult to rent reasonable quality planes and even when you can you cannot take it away for a holiday etc.
Those with firmer ambitions and suitable budgets become owners or part-owners and they have a strong incentive to push themselves beyond the training they receive. They do real long trips, navigate with better methods, and take extra time to learn the more advanced stuff. This applies to both the PPL and the IMCR level; an IMCR holder without proper access to something decent is going to chuck it in pretty soon too.
Unfortunately only a tiny minority of punters are in the above category, so the training business doesn't have to produce competent pilots. If they did, the PPL would be 100hrs min and few would bother. So I can comment but I can't offer a solution. If every punter turning up with a PPL came along in a modern spaceship and wanted an instructor who will teach him how to get about the UK and Europe, there would be mayhem.