As someone who was looking in the future at the possibility of doing the stand alone IRI to add to my CRI....interesting thread!
With the removal of the 4:1 for flying with sole ref to Instruments that makes it impossible
Is the ANO still our bible for air law in the UK and will it be updated to reflect EASA rules?
Remember Cobalt you don't have to be IMC to be IFR !!! IFR is defined in the ANO and basically relates to altitudes followed during flight.
I guess at the end of the day "they" are wanting IRI's to have real IFR experience and not just Biggin to Shoreham in a C152 and creative parker pen hours, not a bad thing it just makes it a longer road to get there!
An interesting note; to be an IRI you need 800hrs IFR..to be an IRE you need 450hrs IFR, have I misunderstood that or what, should it not be the other way around?