The fact is very simple, the IMC is a great aid to safety and a major improver of pilot performance.
I will leave others to argue about what minima etc. it is intended for.
Bose
I agree with what you are saying but on a safety ground any published minima is a nonsense as it either promotes the IMCR as a mini IR promoted as such by the CAA or is meaningless in the event of a situation that the rating was intended for. Example
Pilot X Takes off VFR to make a VFR destination airport before a front moves in from the west. He travels south to North with a line of hills to the east.
Enroute he notes scud clouds below the plane and tries to maintain ground contact.Eventually it all closes in on him. The front has moved in ahead and behind him and to the west. He cannot even turn east.
He climbs to the SSA and in solid IMC he calls a radar unit who give him the weather at two airports in his range which is not great and which are equipt with ILS.
Both airports are reporting 300 overcast with RVRs of 800 metres in drizzle
Ok this is a semi emergency situation Looking at the CAA minima does he say " sorry cant take that as I need 1800 metres and 600 feet" ?
As a insurance safety policy it is almost pointless in the CAA stipulating a minima because that encourages another pilot to takeoff in IMC into a cloudbase of 600 feet fly solid IMC to a destination and land off an ils with a cloudbase of 600 feet and 1800 metre vis.
This is my point you either promote it as a get you out of trouble rating or set limits and encourage its use as a mini IR.
For those who defend its use in that way I would say would you take the current measly 15 hr training and structure of the IMCR to Europe to promote as the new PPL IR? You wont get far and justifiably so.
I'm intrigued by the European PPL IR concept, WHY not a Worldwide IR rating - what qualifies Europe as the authority for the rest of the Planet? Wouldn't it be nice for our ratings to be accepted where ever we choose to fly??
jxk
I echo your sentiments as it is an absurdity and more to do with terratorialism and job protection.
Pace