IMC rating in theUK?

[frog_ATC]

mm_flynn & BEagle (& other) made an interesting "first try" on what a private IR could be, thanks for the brainstorming.

One thing : I said the IMC syllabus is excellent, and I do confirm.
But a syllabus may be excellent, if it is not applied correctly, it is useless.

Those IMC rated pilots I flew with had a poor level, and I hardly believe they were trained in respect with the IMC syllabus.
Maybe I understand better now that I discovered that the IMC rating is valid for 25 months, that's a too long period.


What I would suggest in addition to mmflynn brainstorming :

- 24 or 25 months is a too long period for validity of an IR.
Even the FAA "6 calendar months" is short for someone who does not practice regularly. I would not feel comfortable in IFR if I flew only one approach per month...
I would suggest the same as the FAA rule, which means : you keep on flying legally as long as you have performed 6 approaches within the last 6 calendar months (let's forget about the holdings and tracking stuff, as approaches imply tracking and patterns).
If you did not performed that, check with instructor.
And why not a mandatory check every 24 months if you want.

- training implying 15 hours with certified IR instructor (no IMC instructor, this is a non-icao thing and will make it too complicated for a private IR if he wants to upgrade to the commercial IR, and use his previous private IR training for that). The remaining part of the training can be simulated IMC or ground trainer.

- 25 total is short I think. Flying IFR is not only flying an airplane in IMC.
Any child can become a great IMC pilot just by playing some hours on flight simulator, dealing with needles is not more complicated than a computer game and just requires to "play" often.
When the IMC stuff is learnt, flying IFR is more a matter of attitude and decision making.
Somebody said above in this thread that "adverse weather conditions" is the main factor for accidents. This is wrong, the main factor is human factor, and adverse weather condition is only a parameter which is linked to it.
I think that flight hours are also necessary to understand the environment, the ATC, the main concerns, the traffic, the weather from "inside", etc.
That's also a reason why this training should be at least partly in real IFR condition & environment (flight plan, congested airspace, etc) and not only simulated IMC in G airspace.



I feel tired now, because I understand that despite I spent hours writing long messages here (in a language that is not my native one), but some readers were so persuaded that I was somebody else that they did not even try to understand what I was writing.

My Priv/Pro comparison had only one goal : to explain that flying IR as a private on a GA airplane is not an easy thing, which means that those private IR have to be proud, and not ashamed when compared to commercial pilots.
But IO540 thought I was trying to explain that private pilots are stupid !!!

And my bad english was not the matter I think.
When you read someone with a false opinion of who this person is, you just do not read at all.

Happy landings.

Frog