do i do IMC before I commit to it all?

[career girl]

Hi ya

Just one more thing guys.

Someone suggested to me that I should get try getting my IMC just to see if I have what it takes to pass the I/R test, ie +/- 50ft and +/- 1 degree accuracy.

The only problem is that the IMC rating is not a commercial one and it doesnt go towards your I/R.

Do you know any schools which will take into account that you have an IMC rating and deduct some hours off your I/R?

Do you think its good advice to do IMC training before I commit my self?

Thanx

[duir]

Hey career girl

Although the IMC gives no credits in the UK to CPL/IR I personally chose to go and get one ten hours after ppl.
Why...;
I would guess its a good litmus test for things to come in the IR.

It really shakes your flying up.

It opens a lot more doors for hour building in the UK.

I actually found the IMC test less stressful than the ppl...its all very boxxy and rigid. My mind seems to cope well with no foreward vision whatsoever(test day weather was appalling did not see a damn thing from take off to 500 ft dh. So bad that screens were not necessary.

If you can't hack this you may as well forget IR.

With this and the night I finally felt like I was operating at a proffessional pilot level.

Its FUN

:D

[QNH 1013]

Career Girl,

I think its well worth doing and Duir has indicated some of the good reasons why.
I did the IMC a couple of years before the IR but I have some very specific advice based on that experience.......
Make sure you do your IMC with an Instructor (and preferably school) who is teaching the IR as a full time Instructor. If you are going on to the do the IR at some stage afterwards you don't want to have to break any bad or lax habits that you have picked up on your IMC.
Even if this means your IMC costs more, it will save you a far greater amount when you are doing your IR training.
Talk to people who have recently got IRs and ask for Instructor and School recommendations.
Good Luck,

QNH 1013

[GT]

career girl,

For what it's worth, as an FI with a CPL/IR who teaches the IMC rating, I would say go for it if you can afford to. Just one thing though, you're being a little severe on yourself with your tolerances. I think you'll find (generally) you'll be expected to hold +/- 100 ft and +/- 5 degrees. The relevant standards document on the CAA website explains all. Best of luck.

GT.

[High Wing Drifter]

I would like to ask which aspects specific aspects of the IMC are relevant to the IR. Then I can decide if I anticipate having trouble in those areas.

[duir]

Approaches : Procedural and Radar Vectored ILSDME/NDBDME/VORDME/DME ARC/SRA etc
Tracking : VOR/NDB
Holds : VOR/NDB
RNAV : Enroute Navigation using VOR/DME/NDBFixes
Circle to land Bad/Weather Circuit

Not sure if all this is required for IMC but I sure was put through my paces.

[FlyingForFun]

Apart from preparing you for the IR, two other points:

- You need to do some hour-building before you can start your CPL. The IMC rating can count towards this hour-building. Be careful, because a lot of the hour-building has to be P1, and if you have too much dual time you risk having to fly more than necessary to get your P1 time up - but you can still do the IMC rating without having to log any extra hours if you're careful.

- Although the IMC rating doesn't count towards the hours required for the JAA IR, it does count towards an FAA IR. If you get an IMC rating, and add a few extra instrument hours during your solo hour-building time, you can get an FAA IR with just a few (my memory must be going, I can't remember how many - I think it's 15 or 20) hours with an FAA CFII. You can then convert this to a JAR IR with 15 hours of additional training. If you take this route, the total time to a JAR IR can be reduced by a few hours.

As for how relevant it is, I think everything you do on your IMC rating will be relevant to the IR. You won't do any airways stuff, but you will learn the basics of instrument flying, and you will learn to fly approaches, albeit with much higher minima than for the IR. (Although if you get an understanding IMC instructor, there's no reason why you can't practice your instrument approaches right down to IR minima during your training).

FFF
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