Hour building & modular trainning for ATPL
Dear fellow ppruners,
I'm not sure if this subject has been discussed here in this perspective but here it goes anyway.
I am planning to go through the modular route for the ATPL after the PPL. It's known that we are supposed to complete about 150 hours of flying before we take the ATPL exams. I believe these 150 hours need to follow some sort of pattern but the question is:
1) Can these hours be used to achieve additional ratings on the PPL, ie, an IMC for example would be a good idea to enable more flying in less then ideal weather conditions.
2) The next steps would be a night rating and possibly a multi engine rating. Now, if a IR is taken at this stage does it count towards the IR after the CPL? Do we get exemption of doing it, ie, is the IR for a PPL the same as for a CPL?
The point here is that 150 hours is a lot of money and probably it compensates to acquire extra ratings that would result in some sort of exemption later on.
3) Finaly, if hour building is done outside the UK but in a JAA country what is necessary to ensure that these hours have credit? Is it necessary to do these through a trainning organization? Can it be done with privately owned aircraft?
Hope this is a nice theme for a debate.
TheNavigator