When I did my IR test I had the GNS430 switched to config page and flew the trip using steam guages and dead reckoning to the beacon and the used the ADF inside the promulgumated distance. After the test the examiner asked my why I did not just punch in a DCT to the beacon and use the GPS......
That's really funny... in my FAA PPL checkride, I drove the examiner nuts by being a "good CAA boy" and switching off all the extras. I didn't realise he wanted quite the opposite - he wanted me to demonstrate that I knew how to use it all.
This was despite the FAA CFI telling me about this beforehand. It shows how strong the "CAA "make it hard" mindset" is, and helps to explain the sometimes vicious anti-GPS attitude held by so many UK pilots.
This was a VFR checkride of course, so having the kit on or off doesn't really make any difference to one's flying. But it makes it much easier to keep outside of CAS - something which is the pilot's responsibility, under FAA.
I would, I was told, have a problem on the IR checkride, because I have an RMI, which makes partial panel NDB holds (with timed turns) rather hard to do "properly", because the rotating outside ring cannot really be covered up. In the end I did the IR in the USA in an old dog of a PA28...
I've spoken to a person in "the know" who thinks it likely that they will give the go ahead sometime later this year. Apparently, the big issue is training
I wonder how they reached that conclusion based on the tiny sample participating; tiny as predicted because most pilots who have the required kit are flying N-reg. Also, note that everybody who has ever been within 10nm of Gatwick or Kingsway is "in the know" and is spreading their favourite rumours
I flew one of the approaches, manually, on the flight director, and fully coupled. Being N-reg prevented me from descending below 2000ft agl (and from reporting it on the website) but it was a doddle and highly accurate.
It's all irrelevant anyway; GPS approaches won't do much for the UK until the CAA removes the need for ATC for an IAP, and that is a much harder nut to crack than just drawing up some approaches.