Having said all that, if you have an IR and you want to use it then you have to stay, for the time being, with the old tec kit.
But you do get a massive increase in mission capability under IFR, as well as a generally
much easier flight because you are
cleared end to end ratherthan having to sit up and beg for each airspace transit.
I have torn much hair out in the more southern bits of Europe when some ATCO (who fell out his bed on the wrong side) refused me a VFR transit. After the one before him let me through his bit and handed me over.
One generally plans OCAS when VFR but especially going East this often results in utterly torturous routes which dogleg all over the place and often place you in very unsafe places, like 1500ft above the Alps peaks (under Swiss FL130 Class C) which is OK if there is virtually zero wind, or at 1000ft above the sea off the coast of Italy under Class A with a 1000ft base, out of radio contact and with ~ 30 secs to ditching if the engine stops.
Ever wonder why people go halfway around the bend, learn the names of weather systems on Jupiter, how a 737 FMS works, all kinds of utter crap, to get that silly elitist piece of paper called an
IR, and spend extra money flying a reasonably capable plane (like a TB20)?
Imagine a world in which CAS becomes irrelevant, as do danger areas, restricted areas, all the other VFR crap... where ATC take care of everything (actually most of the time they leave you alone) and you just FLY. On autopilot, taking pictures and making movies, eating strawberries at FL150. Every so often you call up the next unit, or select the next waypoint. In good weather you stop the initial climb and sit at FL100, otherwise you climb to stay VMC on top and ATC never practically refuses anything you ask for "due weather".
Weather permitting (as always) Europe suddenly becomes easy.
I know many pilots get a lot of fun doing local bimbles (and I do probably one a week myself because I like like flying around, drilling holes in clouds, etc) but if they want to go a bit further (somewhere where driving would be a right PITA) they face a whole mountain of crap.
Long trip VFR flight planning means covering the lounge floor with charts, stuck together with bits of tape, crawling over them drawing lines. And you have to plan two routes: the one you want (in CAS at times) and the backup one (100% OCAS).
I loved my long VFR flights (as far as the far end of Crete) but I am damn glad to never have to do them again because you never know when somebody will spring a little suprise at you. Why? Not because there is conflicting traffic but because he can! He can because you are "VFR" which means as far as he is concerned you have zero right to be there and you are in his airspace only because he or somebody else has been generous and let you in. Most airspace has no traffic at GA levels and it could be simply opened up to VFR, US-style, but this is not going to happen in Europe. ATCOs have their 3000 page book of rules and they will run that book for as long as they can. Most are great but you only need one to ruin your whole day. But if you were "IFR" on a Eurocontrol route he cannot touch you because you were cleared all the way on your first contact with ATC. All he can do is get you a little out of the way of
actually conflicting traffic. It's a whole different mindset: Under IFR his job is to get you to where you are going. Under VFR he has no obligation to you whatsoever and his job is discharged by telling you to keep out of his airspace, and if this has created an unsafe situation that's not his problem ("you should have planned for it").
"Ultralights" are the future in pilot/airframe population numbers terms but they are also a near total dead end to any pretence of utility/travelling-A-to-B value.
It's true that today's IMCR-trained hacks will be just fine in marginal VFR and will be able to go places (like Rod1 here can I am sure) but give it some years and most of the pilots won't know what's hit them when they get into a cloud. I am sure 99% of pilots are VFR only but that 99% also has a massive churn rate, of the order of 1 year before packing it up for good. This can be sustained for only so long.
I am not giving up IFR until I have absolutely no option. It will have given me and my girlfriend the best trips to the best places, with the least hassle.