For example, it is generally not possible to see geographical features when flying in instrument meteorological conditions
Always good to try and bring a bit of proper research into the loop.
Indeed
The problem with aviation (and probably every other human activity) is that if you have a good old dig around, you dig out some very good people, a load of average people (by definition), and some total cowboys.
And unless you have data on what the
entire participating population
actually does, it is difficult to apply any data collected.
In GA, and this is true in the USA too, there is not a lot of data on what the pilot population actually does in the cockpit. You will probably interview only the subset who busted CAS and, gosh what a suprise, they will be people who either (a) got lost using conventional methods, or (b) got lost using a GPS on which they didn't know what the knobs do and they spent the whole flight fiddling with it without looking out. An over-simplification, but you get the idea. Researching the whole population is a whole load of legwork which is why nobody does it. Social research tends to be like that, which is why most of it is rubbish
I guess the important point though is that they are all tools... VOR/DME/GPS/NDB even Mk I Eyeball
I find that the more automation, the more I look out.
So how far away from the arrival aerodrome do you need to become VMC?
That's a very good Q. At which point will you have to cancel IFR? is the Q you should be asking, because you are likely to be VMC anyway on the whole route...
The way I would work this system would be to file a traditional IFR (airway) route, validated of course by Eurocontrol, using tools such as
this, but instead of the last waypoint of this route joining to the start of a STAR (which is what happens in "classical" IFR - but SIDs and STARs will be banned under the EIR), you will stick in a DCT to a waypoint picked to be a good place to do a DIY letdown if that becomes necessary, and then put the "VFR" keyword after that waypoint.
In most of Europe, DCTs can be say 50nm, so that gives you some leeway. Some airspaces have a MAX DCT = 0 so this won't work there.
I think that, like plain VFR flight, the EIR will work well to destinations with
definitely good weather. Currently, VFR flight does this well because you can use the IMCR to land back in mucky UK wx. The EIR will give you that, plus the ability to fly above cloud etc enroute and with CAS being irrelevant as per standard Eurocontrol IFR practice. Like VFR, the EIR will be very safe with pilots who are "clever" and who fly to airports in low lands or on the coast, or in places with great weather. Most of my pre-IR long VFR trips used to meet all 3 of those conditions
I wouldn't recommend it to Switzerland...