PUFF, Paul Alfred, RAJAM et al, sorry guys, I've been bush for a week, but this subject is a hot one with me.
(1) You are not going to be able to use a M/E CIR with passengers until you have 1,000 Hrs.
(2) You should accumulate at least 500 Hrs before you even think about it !
(3) The flying schools don't care, they want your borrowed money, NOW !
Why am I so concerned about this ?
Quite simply, a little knowledge is very dangerous, a CIR might get you out of a tricky situation, but it is more likely to get you into it instead.
I know of a few low hour fresh CIR holders who used it to get into trouble ( deliberately breaking the Visual Flight Rules and going into IMC in a single, with no real experience behind them and guess what ? They usually spiral dive into the ground at high speed. ATSB records have numerous instances to research, better still, call an ATSB investigator and verify what I have seen.
Save your money, build your hours, then go back and get polished, it's a good time for relearning and polishing at 500 Hrs.
I cringe and despair every time a low hour pilot kills himself (sorry, usually only a male thing, it's ego related). I am angry when someone's ego results in the deaths of innocents who trusted the ability and training of the pilot who could not make the command decisions to avoid IMC during VFR flight.
If you decide to gain a CIR, please decide which set of rules you can safely operate to. DO NOT MIX VFR and IMC, it is usually fatal. Do not allow Ego to make decisions. Follow the flight rules you are legally operating to and don't break them or combine them.
I have 30 years of experience to fall back on, and yet I still find myself challenged by the conditions that nature sometimes tests me with. Tropical Equatorial thunderstorms embedded in IMC are not the place to test your new skills in a single pilot IFR situation.
Single pilot IFR is a very serious business and demands a high level of training, not just in I/F skills, but in workload minimisation and management skills. Most schools do not teach this aspect and yet it significantly enhances your survival prospects.
CFI
Right on. Agree with you. However, what we say does not suit what fresh CPL's want to hear, EGO, IMPATIENCE, the importance of being Macho are closer to their hearts than the survival instinct that starts to surface after about age 25.