Bajan3,
You would be right if you fly a practice approach relying only on your instruments for aircraft control without any ground reference (hooded etc). If that is so, indeed you would not be able to maintain separation with other aircraft and it would require a safety pilot (a rated pilot) to be legal and to log "simulated" IFR.
On the other hand, If I request a "practice approach" and I am: cleared for the ILS 27, maintain VFR and no separation provided , I am completely legal to shoot that ILS, turn on the autopilot, couple it and let the aircraft fly the approach while scanning for traffic as usual when VFR. I can even log a "practice approach" if that would be important to me, I just can not log "simulated IFR.
Having said this, If you fly an aircraft without an autopilot it would be hard to comply with visual serrations and "hand-fly" an ILS at the same time.I guess it all comes down to your equipment but indeed, flying a "practice approach" in a EC130 or so, would make it hard for one to comply with all other requirements of VFR regulations as a single pilot. I am actually amazed there are pilots out there doing so...(assuming they are seriously trying to fly an ILS)
Um_lifting: Getting an actual IFR clearance does not relieve you from your responsibility to maintain traffic separation while in VMC conditions and is not a solution either.
To add: there is a company in the US that requires you to fly 1.5 hrs every quarter with another pilot (during shiftchange) practicing in VMC conditions, IFR approached not using your autopilot, This same company also requires you to log 3 "practice approaches per month in VMC conditions while using your autopilot and scanning for traffic. All this aside from required recurrent training and IFR line checks. This however cost a lot of money and is an initiative the company takes itself. I am sure there are more like this out there, just, do not expect this from any of the major money making corporate machines....
The FAA......well, that is an whole other story and like the large corporate operators, do not expect too much from them either.
Last edited by otter712; 27th Mar 2011 at 22:40.