Fuji,
Surely better to have a rating pilots can obtain than to use France as a better example where the number of pilots with an IR is equally small but those with out fly in IMC regardless?
............
in short put up or shut up
Go on then..........tell us that there are French VFR pilots flying IFR in IMC.
With microlights, it is more a case of we can fly on as many days as we want to as recreational pilots and we would rather have the fuel making up the max weight.
Have a look at these $3500 units -
http://www.bluemountainavionics.com/...ts.html#eflite
Even the UK CAA was going to be having a long look at the IMC rating but EASA maye have helped it save face. Do you think that the CAA were going to keep the IMC rating while the Daventry CTA was made class D and much of the current class A was designated D or even E?
Have a vote among the UK recreational pilot population........would you prefer to retain the IMC rating and have large expansion in Class A airspace or would you prefer to have lower controlled enroute airspace mainly class D and E?
I can see what all the glider pilots, the NPPL holders, the hang glider pilots, the powered parachute pilots, and so on who make up the vast majority would vote for.
Not knocking AOPA but one must remember that they represent only a very small portion of UK recreational pilots.
I also struggle to reconcile "recreational pilot" with "I use my PPL for business and the IMCr helps when the weather is poor". Perhaps in the UK business is the new recreation?
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ContactTower,
If "Safety is no accident" then are incidents just bad luck ?
Regards,
DFC