Imcaeros,
>>> Perhaps a good cost saver would be to make sure our basic PPL skills are up to scratch before we embark on the likes of IMC and Night Flying courses? What do you think?
Did IMC and Night ASAP after my PPL, both intensive courses in the UK. I found the MS sim gave me a completely clear picture of the numbers, and a very good feeling of situational awareness based on the numbers. It is useless for learning control in turbulence, but when you can control the aircraft accurately it can greatly reduce the cost and time required to learn the approach and tracking side.
Passed my IMC in 92, now have 750 hours TT of which about 100 are “real” IMC. I do not use it as hard as I did, as I do not enjoy it as much as I did. I also spend more time in French airspace these days so I cannot use it as much as I would sometimes like.
I was struggling to afford to fly in the way I wanted, so I either did the thing in the min or I gave up. You are right that spending extra money on training will improve peoples flying, but each case has to decide how much is sufficient for them.
There are two camps on the IMC issue. One says it is a get out of jail card, which should not be used for pre planed IFR, the other uses the qualification to the full. Some people train in real conditions, others use “foggles”. I have often wondered if there is a connection…