there's some Euro-bollocks that says I won't be able to continue using my IMCr on 172s rented from the local club then I've got a problem, otherwise I haven't.
Your MEPs : Constituencies
Dear X,
My name is Gertrude the Wombat
and I'm a private pilot living in Y near Z. I've been flying for quite a while now and have invested in a skills upgrade to obtain the UK Instrument Meteorlogical Conditions Rating.
To my dismay it has come to my attention that under the new EASA FCL regulations I'm about to lose the flying privileges of my IMC-rating. This is essential when traveling across the country so that I can still get back should cloud cover unexpectedly develop, a condition that we British more than often face.
The proposed EASA legislation doesn't offer any reasonable alternative or compensation for the lost course money and flight lessons. The CAA also hasn't been very communicative, mainly because the proposed legislation is currently undergoing a scrutiny procedure in the transport committee of the European Parliament.
[the next bit varies as to where you live. If you're lucky enough to be from West-Midlands, you have two MEPs that are members of the Transport Committee, otherwise you could go indirectly]
It would help me a lot if you could reject the current proposal, sending EASA and the Commission a strong signal that imposing the abolition of a safety enhancing feature in private flying in the UK is not the way to go.
At the same time, we would like to ask you if you could urge the Commission to amend Basic Regulation 216/2008 so as to postpone its implementation until a viable alternative for private flying under instrument conditions (similar to the UK IMC and with a grandfathering principle) can be worked out. It has come to my attention that only the implementation article (article 70) of this regulation needs amending.
[....]
otherwise I haven't.
You might have a problem even if the IMCR gets saved (at the moment this is not on the cards), in the sense that some axe grinders at the Commission have a vision of private flying only during the week-ends, in uncontrolled airspace and with clear skies.
As such, your local airport might go bust if all the N-registered planes suddenly stop flying and don't contribute in landing fees, maintenance etc... anymore.
So you might consider not just writing to your local MEP or specific people at the transport Committee : best to choose one that is from a political party that you support yourself, explaining that you don't vote for him/her but for his/her buddy in wherever it is Wombats live... Alternatively, an MEP with some particularly strong views about intransparency at the Commission might also work, even if you don't vote for her/him. If you don't like the fact that EASA and the Commission have been trying to sneak this through the back door, holding secret meetings and giving deliberately misleading information, you might quickly find some common ground there. Obviously you then want to put more emphasis on "intransparency", "absence of a true consultation process", "having to be a lawyer to grind through this mud", etc...
Transport and Tourism (TRAN) : Members
And you might consider going beyond that : write to an MEP in the transport committee whose country you regularly visit (maybe as a tourist) and whose support you want to pledge to protect the UK IMC rating at the very least until an achievable and affordable European equivalent or better exists.
And finally, spare a thought for your fellow pilots on the N-register who have invested £££ to obtain an American Instrument Rating and who are about to be stripped of their privilege too. It might be a good opportunity to join forces, because this is the moment of truth.
I hope this is useful for you. Good luck,
PP.
postscript :
Sorry Gertrude, I've just noticed that Cambridge would be in the East of England Constituency.
Geoffrey Van Orden is a Tran Member (CON) - substitute.