Originally Posted by pilotchute
I believe the part 61 IFR will work like it does in FAA land.
This is what generally happens in the good old USA.
PPL- (this includes NVFR as you cant hold a PPL without night rating in FAA land) It doesn't say NVFR on the licence, its just a given.
Straight after PPL is IR S/E- I think this is a great idea as the hour building phase generally follows. Exposure to weather other than CAVOK when your progressing up to your CPL test is a blessing in disguise.
After CPL check ride many do a M/E rating. During your M/E checkride you have to shoot a couple of instrument approached one of which includes and engine inop approach. Then presto! Multi engine IR done. No need to waste hours of flight time on NDB's in the USA hence the MECIR works out to be about 40% cheaper there
Better late than never, I guess, but it does make you wonder why everything is so complicated (bureaucratic) and expensive in Australia. I know there are economies of scale in the US, but the cost of everything - especially any administrative fees associated with CASA - is pretty outrageous here. It's like you get milked every step of the way from student license to CPL and beyond.
I hope that goes some way to explaining why I'm asking all these questions and not blindly rushing to hand over any more money than I need to. Not saying I'm not prepared to do the hard yards, but if I can spread things out over a sensible time frame, it would certainly help. Having said that, it looks like I now need to put some more money aside for an instrument rating. From a flying skills and safety point of view - at the very least - it seems to make sense.