IMC for choppers coming at last
More accessible Instrument Rating is now a reality.....I have argued for this for years and put off my own full IR for years waiting to do a sensible course without 500 hrs of study of complete nonsense !!
Next stop will be to make EIR legal in singles subject to certain equipment and well overdue ...but better late than never .
This will save lives ......I am certain .
The long-awaited new regulation for a more accessible instrument rating is now a reality. The regulation, EU No 245/2014, comes bundled with several other other significant improvements for GA. Jacob Pedersen of AOPA Denmark reports that the new package contains:
1) The introduction of the new Enroute Instrument Rating (EIR)
2) Theoretical knowledge requirements for the IR adapted to what is relevant for flying non-complex aircraft with a PPL
3) A competency-based path to earn a full instrument rating
4) Holders of a third country ICAO compliant IR can be credited IN FULL for both the theoretical knowledge course and the practical training requirements
5) Possibility for third country license holders with residence in the EU to continue flying till April 8 2015 before an EASA license is mandatory
6) The privileges of PPL and LAPL licenses are extended so it is clear that the holder can make use of the new rules for cost-sharing for up to six individuals
7) The UK IMC rating can continue to be issued until at least 2019
The Enroute Instrument Rating (EIR), as the name suggests, allows the pilot to fly IFR during the enroute phase of the flight. It only requires a minimum of 15 hours of instrument flight instruction, but comes with significant limitations compared to the full IR. It has no approach privileges, and both the take-off and arrival must be flown VFR. The transition must take place et the minimum IFR enroute altitude which is typically 1,000 ft above the highest obstacle within 5nm. In other words, it is not a rating that will get you in or out of an airport in marginal conditions – you will be better off arriving VFR. The EIR can, however, allows you to enter class A airspace.
The theoretical knowledge curriculum has been reduced significantly and the required number of hours has been cut from 200 to 80, of which most can be done as distance learning. Physical classroom presence can be as little as eight hours if you are good at home study. The items that have been removed from the curriculum relate to flying high-performance aircraft at high altitudes. Should you later want to fly such an aircraft you will need to cover these subjects, but for a PPL holder wishing to fly a typical GA aircraft the new theoretical course will make the path to the instrument rating more simple.
The new competency-based route to the full instrument rating is another opening especially for the PPL holder who might already have some instrument experience or training from either the enroute instrument rating or from flying IFR on an instrument rating issued outside the EU. The competency-based path to the instrument rating requires 40 hours of instrument instruction. Of these, up to 30 hours can be credited based on prior experience and training.
Holders of an FAA issued instrument rating, or other ICAO-compliant third-country rating, with a minimum of 50 hours of IFR/PIC time will find that their rating can give them full credit for both the theoretical knowledge course and the practical training requirements. If they can pass an instrument skill test and during this test demonstrate that their theoretical knowledge is adequate, they can have the European full IR issued.
Third country license holders can also fly for another year. As part of the new regulation every European member state now has the option to postpone the deadline of the new rules that requires residents in the EU holding a third country license to convert to an EASA license. They can now continue flying within the EU until April 8, 2015 if the individual member state so decides after April 3 but before April 8 this year.
Many of the affected pilots hold an FAA license and use their FAA instrument rating to fly N-registered aircraft in Europe. These pilots now have a year to use the new competency-based path to pass an IR skill test and get a full European instrument rating. Alternatively they can hope that the bilateral safety agreement (BASA) between Europe and the US will be extended in time to allow them to keep flying in Europe. An effort is certainly being made, and there is pressure from IAOPA in both Europe and the US, but no guarantees for this strategy.
The UK IMC rating can continue to be issued till 2019. This rating, which follows a 15-hour minimum flying course and has a rigorous revalidation schedule which is designed to give pilots the ability to save their own lives in IMC by maintaining control of an aircraft and returning it to the ground by whatever instrument landing system is available, has been obtained by tens of thousands of British pilots despite conferring no additional access privileges – and in 40 years, only one IMC rating holder has been killed in actual IMC. The UK has fought hard to keep the IMC rating, the case for which it believes to be self-evident, and is likely to pursue its continuation before the five-year stay of execution. As always, the IMC rating will continue to be valid only in UK territory.
Altogether the new regulation opens up a future for GA where an instrument rating is now realistically achievable for the typical private pilot. Until now less than two percent of European private pilots have obtained a European instrument rating. In the US, the level is well over 40 percent. With the new more achievable path to a European instrument rating the hope is that we will start to see more instrument proficient private pilots getting more benefits from their license and with skills allowing them to fly even safer.