Mechanics of Arrivals with EIR
Could someone more familiar with IFR flight explain to me how arrivals might be done for a pilot holding just a PPL + the new EIR.
The pilot can take off under VFR climb on top of an over cast layer (or into it) join an airway and continue unhindered to close to their destination.
That much is clear to me, but I'm somewhat less clear about how the arrival end would operate. I understand that the pilot needs to be VFR by the Initial Approach Fix. How would someone do that in practice?
I understand that the EIR pilot can desend to 1000ft above the highest obstacle within 5nm. Presumably this will always be lower than the minimum altitude for radar vectoring. If so, am I correct in assuming that the first step would be to tell the controller that you can't accept an IFR approach, and ask for a radar vectored desent to the base of the radar vectoring area?
If visual by that point you can change to VFR on continue.
If not visual by that point, but you were still higher than 1000ft above the highest obstacle within 5nm, can you desend lower accepting your own responsibility for terrain clearance? Is this what would be done in practice or would this be considered foolhardy?
If neither of these options got you VFR obviously you can divert. Would it be considered reasonable practice before opting to divert, to climb again, travel to a different area where terrain is lower and try again there, even though this might be outside controlled airspace? Or would this also be considered foolhardy?
In consideration of a slightly different scenario, imagine that the reported weather at he destination was marginal in terms of 1000ft above nearest obstacle within 5nm, the pilot might decide to try to get visual 50nm+ away from the airport where the weather had been reported better, or perhaps the terrain lower. They desend out of the airway expecting to find VFR conditions lower down. However they don't find those conditions. Is it easy to get back into the airways at that point, or once having left 'the system' is there a big delay in getting back in? I imagine if the pilot would like to continue to their destination and try there or divert to somewhere else, they would prefer to do that within the airway system.
I appreciate that some of this is new in the sense that an enroute IFR capable pilot who can't fly an instrument approch is new, and as such perhaps only guesses are possible, but those who currently fly IFR have a much better chance of knowing how this is likely to work in practice and what's acceptabe and what's not, then my VFR only self.
Thanks
dp