IMC advice please!
I passed my PPL skills test yesterday and am considering doing the IMC rating. Ideally at this point, I'd be taking it easy, doing some leisurely flying with my club's aircraft, and maybe start thinking about another rating next year, but it seems I'll need to have done the test by April before the rating disappears. I'm (at best) an average pilot: "that wasn't the best test I've ever taken, but I'll pass you" was what I heard before getting out of the cockpit. With that in mind:
While the minimum dual training required is 15 hours, what's a realistic estimate for an average pilot spreading it out over 5-6 months? It took me 52 hours over 14 months to get my PPL.
If I do the rating, I guess I don't have much choice, but how advisable is it to just dive in immediately and start the course - I don't have much time left before April, and it may take a month for me to receive my license (and be allowed to fly solo), so I'm sorely tempted to crack on next week. I know that I'll need to rack up an extra 10 hrs solo in the background.
And just to confirm, am I right in thinking that if I get the rating before April its privileges last forever, and if I don't, there's no way of doing anything similar and I'd have to get a proper IR (which is clearly out of the question).
Thanks