IMC rating in US

[grahama]

Has anyone done their IMC rating in the states, if so any recommendations on where to do it, was training good etc?

[Heliplane]

No recent experience of places to recommend but while you're over there, why not go slightly further and get a full FAA instrument rating - the CAA will give you an IMC off the back of it when you come home and yo'll probably get much more out of the full IR training.

[IO540]

The FAA IR is much harder than the IMC Rating. I've done both. I was a pretty competent IMCR holder when I did my IR, with ~ 600hrs TT, and it took 2 weeks of damned hard work.

IR training is a world away from real IFR flight which is comparatively easy and generally much easier than VFR if doing decent distances.

Otherwise, yes, you are right :)

I have never heard of anybody having done their IMCR in the USA but, I suppose, one could do it at one of the CAA approved schools which are in Florida, and one is S. California. I would simply contact these schools.

[Cusco]

FAA/IR
Agree entirely: FAA/IR is no picnic.
I got mine in Florida a few years ago having already had the UK IMCR for many years.
Even allowing for my pre-existing IMC hours and having got the written out of the way in UK before I went, I still took a full fortnight to get the FAA/IR.
It was bloody hard: remember this is the same rating that American Airlines ATPLs have.
However , flying a G reg as I do from a farmstrip, I found keeping up the required instrument approaches/VOR tracking etc every six months to keep the FAA/IR current too much of a bind and have , reluctantly, decided to let it go.
I have only used FAA/IR in anger when renting in USA (when it was very useful, usually to punch up out of the marine layer in LA basin when everybody else was grounded), and it's no use to me in UK.
So: if you plan on buying a N reg and operating it in UK, go for the FAA/IR, otherwise do the IMCR, but for gawd's sake do it over here where you'll see some real IMC:
What's the point of doing the IMC in bright California sunshine?
We all know it only takes a microsecond peep out of the corner of the foggles to destroy the IMC effect and what good is cheating when your life might depend on it.
Safe flying
Cusco;)

[IO540]

What's the point of doing the IMC in bright California sunshine?
We all know it only takes a microsecond peep out of the corner of the foggles to destroy the IMC effect and what good is cheating when your life might depend on it.

I tend to agree*, but here in the UK virtually all instrument training is done under VMC, with the actual flight being under VFR. Therefore, under the hood.

One reason for this is that many G-reg flying school planes are illegal for IFR in CAS, and many are illegal for IFR anywhere, even an ILS in Class G. But they can still be used for instrument training under VFR.

Another is that many instructors don't like IMC.

* Actually real IMC is much easier than flying under the hood because one has an unrestricted view of the cockpit.

[IanSeager]

...remember this is the same rating that American Airlines ATPLs have.


In the US I believe that the ATP requires writtens plus a flight test. The flight test involves instrument work with tighter tolerances than the FAA IR (and the JAA IR for that matter).

Ian

[grahama]

Thanks for the advice.

My problem is I love flying too much and instructor/aircraft availability seem always to disrupt the planned training slots and I go on another 'jolly' instead.

I am thinking IMC training in US followed by 3-4 hours training afterwards in the UK as consolidation.

Hear the IR advice....next year!

Thanks again

Grahama

[flatfilea4]

I'm considering Spain for IMCR sometime this winter. I'm presuming less hassles with visa's than USA and better weather than UK . Anyone taken that route to IMCR as an alternative to USA?

Tks

[Black Jake]

What is the purpose of obtaining an IMC rating? Presumably it's to enable you to remove some of the restrictions placed on a basic PPL such as flight in less than 3k visibility and flight out of sight of the surface, and to enable you to make an instrument approach into a destination airfield. Thus enabling you to go places and do things confidently and safely in the unreliable weather conditions in the UK.
The nuts and bolts of instrument flight (up, down, left, right, tracking a VOR or flying an ILS) can be learnt anywhere in the world and probably more effectively and more cheaply in a synthetic training device. Operating an aircraft safely and confidently in the airspace and ATC environment is another ball game all together. Flying inside controlled airspace is relatively straightforward - you do what you are told! However, operating outside of controlled airspace, or transiting from outside to inside and vice versa requires more thought on the part of the pilot. UK airspace structure, rules, regulations and ATC procedures are considerably different from those of other countries. (LARS, FIS/RIS/RAS, ATZ/MATZ/CTA/CTZ, airways, advisory routes, restricted airspace, areas of intense aerial activity, transition altitudes of 3000/4000/6000 feet, the quadrantal rule, QFE/QNH/RPS/SPS). Add to the mix the number of days when the cloud base is below MSA and there is a freezing level to consider and all of a sudden planning for or inadvertently entering IMC can be somewhat challenging.
Obviously you could learn all of this by trial end error upon return to the uk with your fresh IMC rating (good luck) or get an instructor to teach it to you. But why not just learn it by exposure as you progress through the course in the environment in which you intend to use the rating?
Just my thoughts for what they're worth.