As a very experienced BA Concorde pilot once stated to me:-
You are either VMC, and can see where you are and where you are going, or your IMC and should be operating as such (with the required equipment)
He's right of course but Concorde ops are a world away from light FW GA. They took off, in CAS, under vectors (or own nav) all the way to the far end where they got more vectors to the ILS, and auto land (or hand land if VMC using the flight director).
I can do that too (except the auto land
) with the same predetermined flight characteristics which make navigation a no-brainer. Most IFR flights around Europe are like that, if you file a fairly standard route in CAS and are going between instrument airports.
ShyTorque
I am commenting from the perspective of this forum, which is a) FW and b) GA.
Other ops will have different regimes. I am sure the space shuttle works differently, too. Let's wait for one of their pilots to pitch in
BTW I never failed any checkride in my life, FAA or JAA, so get this right before attacking me personally. In fact my FAA CPL checkride was quite a pleasant experience. What you are no doubt referring to is that I once "failed" a 170A which is a bogus UK-only concept which has not been valid since 1999 but very few people know that, and the FTOs love it because they can get another grand out of everybody even
after they are ready for the IRT. You can book the IRT directly with the CAA regardless of the outcome of any "170A flight test". The FTO is obliged to give you the 170A course completion certificate when you have completed the approved course and you can book the IRT with that. The 170A "examiner" I had did various antics like trying to break the nosegear; he thought it was the same as a Cessna, apparently... (spring-connected), and failing me for doing the power checks with the wind behind, for filing an alternate which he didn't like, etc. But it wasn't a checkride; it was a standard revenue raising exercise for the FTO.