Aircraft
The aircraft must be equipped and type-certified for instrument flight, and the related navigational equipment must have been inspected or tested within a specific period of time prior to the instrument flight.
instruments required for IFR flight in addition to those that are required for VFR flight are: heading indicator, sensitive altimeter adjustable for barometric pressure, clock with a sweep-second pointer or digital equivalent, attitude indicator, radios and suitable avionics for the route to be flown, alternator or generator, gyroscopic rate-of-turn indicator that is either a turn coordinator or the turn and bank indicator.[15] From 1999 single-engine helicopters could not be FAA-certified for IFR, and Helicopter Association International estimates that 326 lives were lost in 133 accidents that would likely not have happened if those helicopters had been flying in IFR.[16]
You can only really fly instruments when its makes no difference to you whether you are in cloud or VMC when your heart rate and relaxed state are the same in cloud or VMC! When you can hand fly on instruments and at the same time allow your mind to drift to what you are doing at the weekend