IR/CPL Training places in the UK with my own plane

[FlyForFunSweden]

Hello!

I am looking for info on schools & instructors in the UK.

I live in Sweden and have a PPL and a PA28. I want to use my own plane for the training but this is not allowed here, but I understand it's allowed in the UK, so I am thinking "why not fly over there for a few weeks and get some intensive training".

I have finished my ATPL exams here in Sweden, have my Class 1 medical, my PPL and just did 20 hours in a FNTP1simulator with IR training which went well.

So here are some questions:

- Can I use my Swedish ATPL exam credits in the UK?
- What does one pay a UK instructor for IR training?
- Does any one have ideas on good instructors/schools to contact?
- What does one pay for the flight test in the UK?

Thanks for any tips!

Best regards,

Peter

[Dan the weegie]

- Can I use my Swedish ATPL exam credits in the UK?

As far as I'm aware at the moment you have to pass the IR exams in the country in which you do your IR, that means you would need to resit the IR exams in the UK.

- What does one pay a UK instructor for IR training?

Variable but I'd expect about £8k-£9k

- Does any one have ideas on good instructors/schools to contact?

Lots of stuff on this if you use search, for IR there are lots of places but some that would only teach in their own plane.


- What does one pay for the flight test in the UK?

I think the initial is in the region of £750 but suggest you check the CAA scheme of charges... it's on the CAA website.

Pa28 R and you'll be able to do the CPL in it, if it's just a Archer/Warrior then you can't.

[FlyForFunSweden]

Hello!

Thanks for the info - Well I am not too eager to re-sit my ATPL exams so I guess that is a show stopper!

It's just very annoying that I have a PA28 (not a retractable gear though) that I don't fly enough hours anyway, and then I have to rent another PA28 fly my IR hours. I think our local CAA is worse than your CAA :ugh:

Besides it would be good to get an excuse to go over to the UK and drink some nice real ale... :D

Cheers,

Peter

[RichardH]

I looked into doing this at one time and I believe your aircraft will have to be "approved" as suitable for commercial and instrument training.

This will mean having IR screens fitted, tested and approved for the purpose. There was also something about dual toe brakes to be fitted.

This was sometime ago so I maybe incorrect now. I suspect it isn't as easy as you might think and you should contact the UK CAA to get WRITTEN clarification.

[truckflyer]

The CAA UK might approve your ATPL exams, however does your PA28 have retractable landing gear and variable pitch?

I believe if I am not wrong, that your CPL test has to be done in a complex aircraft.

My course they offered to start training in a PA28, and then could change over to Arrow, however I would say most of the time in the PA28 was a waste of time, because you had to fly at CPL speeds for the Arrow, so imagine coming in and flaring at 80 kts in a PA28.

I do assume that for CPL and IR it will have to be approved, as I recall when doing both CPL and IR test, there was a document that one of the examiners asked for, that was an approval document that this aircraft could be used for CPL/IR training and testing.

Pretty sure knowing fee structures of the CAA it will not be a cheap one!

Also your IR should be in a ME aircraft, most of the training today is done in sim, normally only require 15 hours in the aircraft, I doubt it will save you a lot of money if any, if you use your own aircraft, as the extra costs coming with will cost you probably more than you gain. (Parking, landing fees, fuel, wear and tear, maintainance)

I don't think the PA28 itself will be suitable for the purpose, as a SE IR is not very useful anyway.

[FlyingStone]

My course they offered to start training in a PA28, and then could change over to Arrow, however I would say most of the time in the PA28 was a waste of time, because you had to fly at CPL speeds for the Arrow, so imagine coming in and flaring at 80 kts in a PA28.

Jesus christ, where do you find that kind of FTO/FI? Flying a Warrior with speeds for Arrow :oh: Do they think student pilots are incapable of learning couple of numbers when transitioning to a new aircraft? I'd really keep far away of this kind of flying schools if I were you.

[FlyForFunSweden]

Hello all!

There is clarification published in AIC: W 001/2011 here is part of it

http://www.ead.eurocontrol.int/eadbasic/pamslight-288D3167BF0DC7676963FA7998052F54/7FE5QZZF3FXUS/EN/AIC/W/001-2011/EG_Circ_2011_W_001_en_2011-01-27.pdf

FLYING TRAINING AND FLYING TESTS IN PRIVATE AIRCRAFT.
It is often thought that flying training is not permitted in private aircraft, or at least that only a limited amount of training is allowed. In fact, there is no restriction on training in private aircraft, but as with any activity in an aircraft that is normally only used for private recreational purposes there are restrictions on what can be paid for in relation to the flight.

So basically you can use your own craft and pay the school and it's OK, but only in the UK - not in Sweden. Here CAA says Foxtrot Uniform.

And landing at 80 kts? That is not unheard of, just use no flaps and land at a long runway. After all the "65 over the threshold" that is typical is with full flaps (third step). And if POH memory serves stall speed goes up with 2 kts or so for each step. So then the excess speed is not so great as it sounds.

Also, if you are landing in winter with a unknown bit of ice on the wings you don't want to touch the flaps anyway in case you, ah, develop some asymmetric lift=roll close to the ground. I have heard of people I know choosing to land at higher speeds than 80 kts with a PA28 when they have had a lot of ice on the wings, like 100 kts. And then experiencing the plane dropping like a rock when throttling back... so happy they kept extra speed.

Of course a PA28 (it's a -140 too!) is not a plane built to fly in really crappy weather, but it does work better than people think in wither. I do fly mine all winter here in Sweden (when it's VMC of course) and it works well even in -30C. I just use a big hot air blower to pre-heat the engine and off you go. I haven't flown in any severe icing conditions though, but then I do fly from a short grass strip which is iced over in winter. So the trick there is to keep no extra knots on final since you can't brake anyway. The no-flap-extra-speed-with-ice-on-the-winds can't be combined with a short frozen over grass strip.

I did my Sim sessions back to back (14 lessons in 7 days) so I was thinking of doing something similar for the IR if i flew over to the UK.

So, ahhh, well I might just bite the bullet and get my IR in an rented plane, but it irks me something awful.

Cheers all!

[FlyingStone]

And landing at 80 kts? That is not unheard of, just use no flaps and land at a long runway. After all the "65 over the threshold" that is typical is with full flaps (third step). And if POH memory serves stall speed goes up with 2 kts or so for each step. So then the excess speed is not so great as it sounds.

Sure, if you have a 4 km runway you could probably arrive at the threshold close to Vne and still safely stop on the runway. If the stall speed increases for 2 knots when retracting flaps for a single stage, this gives you 6 knots increase in stall speed in clean configuration, which changes your approach speed for 10 knots (Vapp = 1,3*Vs0) you don't need some ridicoulous approach speeds just because you're making a flapless landing.

Also, if you are landing in winter with a unknown bit of ice on the wings you don't want to touch the flaps anyway in case you, ah, develop some asymmetric lift=roll close to the ground.

Usually, you'll see the amount of ice accumulated on the wings quite well, unless you fly at night - and even then you can use light to shine the leading edge of the wing to see for any ice. Having seen the actual amount of ice, one would then modify the approach speed as required. I surely won't extend flaps with significant amount of ice on the wings - and I surely won't be flying with 1,3*Vs0 as final approach speed.

Don't get me wrong - I agree with most things you wrote, I just can't stand one rule for all type of thinking. If one will undergo a CPL skill test on Arrow, whose approah speed is 80 knots, one shouldn't be flying approach at 80 knots while flying neither Seneca neither C172 and neither the standard PA28. Fly the aircraft as manufacturer and the test pilot wrote it should be flown - the guys are usually fairly experienced and tend to know what they are doing.

[FlyForFunSweden]

Hello again,

Well I guess am out on thin ice here! Any extra knot will give you a penalty in length. But sometimes higher speed IS the sensible option. For instance if it's really gusty and you are landing at a field with forest (dark=thermals) on one end you certainly want those extra knots! The trade-off in that case (for me) would be mitigating the risk of a drop to using up too much field.

With ice you are sort of out of the POH-OK-area with a standard PA28 anyway, and for me as a rookie I would feel that I made a bad call somewhere earlier to get into that situation.

But I do know that some people fly in a way that they end up picking up ice and think that this is OK. The 100 kt landing was once specific case I know of when a friend of mine was doing his IR. I don't know for sure but think they had something like a inch of ice (could have been less), and the my friend described the very unpleasant feeling of the plane just stopping flying at a way way higher speed than usual. What would have given endless float in a normal scenario ended up being a "thunk".

This is in fact the biggest head scratcher for me with the whole IR-business, i.e. how do you call it? How do you estimate what speed-margin to add with so and so much ice? And which weather you fly in? I studied ATPL met because I didn't think the PPL met gave me enough info and now I am just confused at a higher lever. I guess hours in IMC will solve those mysteries.

Also flying a straight wing older PA28 or a the newer wing also makes a difference in floating tendency. And the C172 has less ground effect feel, though I have flown those less.

And I agree about the test pilot (or not beeing one) thing. But for instance for my older plane there was no POH, only a AFM and it's very short. I have studied it carefully though. But all those light-plane POHs are seriously simplified anyway as you realize when you plod through the ATPL performance and principles of flight. I got a lot of "aha" experiences out of that tho.

And SE IR is very useful if you have a SE and live in Sweden! I work in IT and am in my early 40s so I am unlikely to actually work with this. But to "lock" the ATPL theory i need the IR & CPL...

I figure if I ever get the cash to buy a ME I will get the ME on my ticket. Especially since I need to keep that ME current!

Hmm, perhaps this got a bit off topic but very interesting still!

Cheers

[truckflyer]

80 kts over the threshold, and it is one of the best schools in the UK.

For CPL you should not use 65 kts in the Warrior, that was just for PPL!

Why it is like this, I guess you would have to check with the school program, however they wanted you to fly the approach as it was an Arrow, so the transition would be as seamless as possible! Better was just to drop the Warrior and go straight in the Arrow, as they handled very differently anyway. Arrow was actually much easier and better to fly!

And this would be approach with or without flaps!

Remember for commercial flights, you have to put in extra margins for safety reasons, and only time it could be interesting was when landing on the runway with a downhill slope! Runway was around 800 m. Most schools, have their own procedures for how to fly the aircraft, and rarely have I seen them be as manufacturer have stated. You have to follow procedures of your school or training with regards to this. Among the rules, was that you should add minimum 5 kts for wind, + full gust correction, so if gusts are large, you have to have a margin for this. UK have much gusts!

Training for PPL and CPL is different, as a CPL pilot, you should not have a problem to fly the approach at a higher speed. I would not make full flap approach in windy conditions at 65 kts, that's for sure. The only difference is that you are not going to be flaring the airplane like you do in your PPL, that's where it gets tricky when you come fast in such aircraft like the Warrior. You can elect your own Vat speed, it is enough to think about in the start, than keep swapping speeds between 2 very similar aircraft.

FlyForFunSweden;

First short note, you only need MEP issued for first ME/IR, after if you renew it you don't need to be current or have a valid MEP rating, you can renew ME/IR without MEP rating.

SE IR, is completely useless, unless you wish to go on a suicide mission!
If you have read some ATPL theory stuff, it is clear that you have not grasped the most important thing;

"the biggest head scratcher for me with the whole IR-business, i.e. how do you call it? How do you estimate what speed-margin to add with so and so much ice? "

Seriously, where did you read that you could fly with any ice?

If you are flying in icing conditions, your aircraft must have De-icing or Anti Icing equipment! Before takeoff, Aircraft must be cleaned for ALL ICE, and you must take off within a certain amount of time, holdover time!
There shall NEVER be any ICE on the aircraft, specially not the wings!

Aircraft used for IR training, flying in IMC have equipment to handle this, I doubt very much a SEP Warrior would have this as standard equipment.

Now to the use of SEP IR, first with the Warrior, unless you really beef it up, and get all the Add Ons extras, forget icing conditions! Most use of IR is to fly trough the clouds until you reach your level, where you hopefully will be clear of major cloud until you come in for your approach again!

"FlyForFunSweden"; you know of people landing with loads of ice on their wings?? Seriously???

Is it some big NO NO's in aviation, it is Thunderstorms and Ice! You never ever should put yourself in that situation, unless you have a death wish! And if you think you can add a few knots on your speed to compensate for that, you are very very wrong, you will NEVER know how many knots you will have to add! I seriously don't say this normally, but if you both think it is ok to fly with Ice on the wings, you should not be flying!

I have done much flying in Norway, and not once did I accumulate ice on the aircraft! If it was potential icing conditions I would simply NOT FLY!
And anybody flying an aircraft without proper anti ice/de-ice, are showing extremely poor airmanship! I would have reported them if they let it happen on purpose!

Final thing about SEP in IMC conditions, not very practical, flying ME in IMC, you have an engine failure, you should be able to fly and land somewhere! However in SEP in cloud, how would you plan a forced landing? Specially with low cloud base?

I believe from Air Law, you can not legally fly in IMC conditions with a SEP aircraft, unless you get special permission! However unless you have a very modern aircraft with loads of protection against icing conditions, SE IR would be very useless, specially for Warrior!

IR is fun to train and fly, but you need the right equipment and the right tools, if not you are playing with your own life and other peoples lives!

By the way, there is not huge difference between SE/IR and ME/IR, because so much sim time, however if you later want to convert to ME/IR you have to do most of the course again, as much of the training is flying asymmetric and asymmetric holds/approaches etc.

Maybe the total difference with the school will be around £2000 -£3000!

But on a very serious note, how much Ice on the aircraft is ok??
Nothing is ok, unless specified by the manufacturer that certain parts can contain some ice, but the easy answer to stay alive as long as possible, is no ice at all!

[FlyForFunSweden]

Hello!

Well that's good to know, perhaps I will do the ME at the same time and then just maintain the SE until I win the lottery and buy a twin.

Also to clarify - I don't think they planed to get ice on the wings, but they did and had to deal with it. I am sure it has happened before.

The only situation where "what the met man says is always true" is in regards to true north. In my experience actual weather can differ from what the met man (or woman) says. Also most weather products are made for larger aircraft "light" might mean something else if you are in a small aircraft.

So you can't be 100% certain that you will never get into a situation where you might pick up some ice if you are flying IMC, even if you actively try to avoid it.

And this is what I meant by "head scratcher", looking at the TAF and other weather products and planing a flight, especially when in a small aircraft not built for known icing, how do you get a sure sense of when it's safe to go?

Flying with two engines is of course nice and I would love to own a twin, but there is also a cost factor. AND few of the IFR (and VFR) accidents are due to engine failure so I don't feel too uncomfortable flying a single that I know well.

There are some nice SE aircraft like the Cessna 210s that have de icing. I don't think any small Pipers have de-ice though. And of course you can fly in IMC with a SE, though not commercially as far as I know.

There are plenty of "light" IMC scenarios where it would work very well to fly a Cherokee IFR like getting through a patch of bad visibility and you would be sitting on the ground days otherwise, but of course it's not built for the real heavy stuff like a airliner.

I did very well on the theoretical exams but still feel it's sort of abstract, and there are a lot of different opinions out there that don't overlap.

You would of course have to be exceedingly stupid to try to fly through a CB so that's an easy call. And of course if it's CAVOK then making a "Go" decision is easy. But it's the middle bit where I feel it's less clear cut.

Truckflyer said "If there was potential for ice, you stayed on the ground, and you never called it wrong since you never got ice on the wings" - Great! So how did you go about to evaluate the weather then?

So to get back to the original topic, does anybody have any schools to recommend that I can check out?

Cheers!

[truckflyer]

FlyForFunSweden, you have done your ATPL theory, and passed all the exams?

Scary!!!

You better get this sorted before you start your IR, because it is very simple. What conditions have to be present for ice to form on your aircraft?

At my school, it was made clear, temperature below 4 degrees Celcius, and ice-protection on assuming you would be flying into cloud or other visual moisture.

For ice to come on your wings, temperature has to be less than 0 degrees Celcius, and you have to fly into visible moisture! (This could be clouds)

If it is a clear day, -30 degrees, no clouds, there will be no ice on your aircraft, of course you can still get Carb Icing, that is another matter, but that's why you have Carb Heat.

Ice checks, into ice conditions, first action is to GET OUT of ice conditions as soon as possible if the ice is not going away from your aircraft. How you do that?

Depends, turn 180 degrees if it was clear, descend to your MSA because it is warmer air there, this might help, or go above cloud, however you do NOT continue flying inside cloud in icing conditions, specially if your aircraft does not have any way to get rid of the ice.

I mean what did your PPL instructor teach you? Seriously you got to get some mental bearings on what ice on your wings means.

Laminar flow break down, extra weight, increased stall speed, potentially no margins left to even make a turn!

It is safe when you stay outside cloud, or if it is high ambient temperature, that's why when flying IMC you constantly check your temperature. You know the approx. lapse rate, so if you take off +20 degrees Celcius, you should know approx. at what altitude you might start getting ice, so always be preventive!

I am not being a jerk here, if you think might get Ice, don't throw the Dice!

TAF is only a forecast, and will not give you to much information about this, except the cloud level and your current temperature from your METAR.

Also the spread from your Temp and Dew point, can give you some indication for cloud base.

Of course there are proper aircraft single engine with proper ice-protection equipment, but we talking about your Warrior now.

Your way of thinking is very very wrong:
"There are plenty of "light" IMC scenarios where it would work very well to fly a Cherokee IFR like getting through a patch of bad visibility and you would be sitting on the ground days otherwise"

If the conditions are there for potential icing, and you are not equipped against it, you do NOT fly trough that patch!

Seriously how do you know how big that cloud really is, what if your gut feeling was wrong, and you end up for 30 minutes in the cloud, in icing conditions, and you have no idea how to get out of the cloud. You flying on instruments only, no visual cues anymore!
If temperature shows less that 4 degrees, and visual moisture, your chances of icing is very big! (add also scenarios with super-cooled water droplets)

Anyway, what you got to get around now as soon as possible is the correct mindset, if not you will be flying like cowboy, with an accident waiting to happen!

If you flying from Vasteraas to Malmo, and you see in your weather brief, that you will be flying into cloud, and the temperature will be less than 4 degrees Celcius, you know you are flying into trouble if you do not have equipment to handle it.

Also remember there is a big difference from Anti - Ice and De - Ice!

It is very simple, and you should have got this information from your Principle of Flight and Met subjects!

Just because some other idiot survived flying around with ice, does not make it ok, and thinking that it might be ok is also wrong. It should NEVER happen, if it does happen, it is because that pilot have made some very poor choices in his flight and planning, and he was lucky to survive to tell the story! You might not be that lucky!
You think my words sound to strong now? Tell that to the people who died because of such stupidity!

Remember like in Scandinavia in the winter, when cold, it is often clear blue sky, the air is very dry, so after removing ALL ice, every millimeter on the ground, you should have no problems to get ice, even if it is very cold!
If you want to fly into the clouds, make sure you have an aircraft that has the required approved equipment for this. I believe there is a MEL for certain IMC conditions for all aircraft, and unless you have this equipment you are not legally allowed to fly into IMC conditions. (MEL = Minimum Equipment List)

Jeg fløy mye rundt østlandet, Gardemoen, Kristiansand, Fagernes og til og med Landvetter!

[FlyForFunSweden]

Hello all!

People here seem to think I am some kind of idiot, don't know anything or have a dangerous mindset just because I am saying that i think it is difficult to translate a TAF, METAR etc. into a clear judgment call. I don't think that is OK or very helpful, in fact i resent it.

I think most would agree that a far more dangerous mindset is to be cock-sure about everything.

ATPL met theory goes into great detail explaining Foehn winds, making you learn African winds that have given names to WV car models etc. It gives you a toolkit as it where. It does not really explain a lot of things of a more practical nature. If you have studied this you all know this to be true so why flame me for it?

I am more interested in hearing about other peoples experiences in going from theoretical knowledge to developing a practical finger tip feeling for this kind of thing.

I wouldn't count any scenario where there is risk of ice as "light" and that's not what I said or what I meant (and who would say icing = light IFR?)

A "light" scenario in my book would be something like flying to or from Visby - ESSV - which is close to the sea and often can have some local poor visibility which would prevent you from going there or taking off VFR, but plenty fine for IFR in a small plane.

Certainly was not suggesting "ah, well I am a big idiot and will just try flying through that patch of heavy freezing rain that I don't know how big it is and see what happens" - how did you what I said to mean that?

Re carb icing - everyone has seen that nice graph which gives an idea on when to expect carb ice me to of course. And on those nice clear cold days we have here the risk of icing is nil. And those are the ones i fly on in the wither when I fly VFR.

So truckflyer you fly in Norway? What type of aircraft do you fly there?

How do you go about making that judgement in those more subtle, less than clear cut situations?

[truckflyer]

It is clear, to get ice it must be visible moisture, and you less than 0 degrees. Visible moisture is cloud, normally no cloud = no ice! Cloud and freezing temperature = ice. This is simple rules of thumb. So expect to fly into icing conditions if 4 degrees or less and cloud!
Clear of cloud no ice!

You was wondering how to calculate stall speed with ice on Aircraft before, that was I reacted on!

But this your instructor will teach you!

[truckflyer]

This is the easy and safe rule that you should have learnt when doing your ATPL, and will for sure get banged into you during CPL and IR flying.

"Icing conditions are said to exist in flight if the TAT is below +10 degrees Celcius, either with visible moisture in the air or if the visibility is below 1500m.
Ice detection systems will warn that icing conditions have been encountered. Many systems work better if they are selected on before icing is encountered."
This is direct quote from the ATPL theory - JAR OPS requirements.

Furthermore "JAR OPS prohibits a pilot from starting a flight under known or expected icing conditions unless the aircraft is certificated and equipped to cope with such conditions!"

"Any ice formation can be dangerous to aircraft as it will increase the weight of the aircraft, increase the profile drag, reduce lift by altering wing profile and reduce thrust."

JAR OPS prohibits a take off unless external surfaces are clear of any deposits which might adversely affect the performance and controllability of the aircraft, except as permitted in the Flight Manual.

It is pretty clear cut "is below +10 degrees Celcius, either with visible moisture in the air or if the visibility is below 1500m."

To be allowed to fly an aircraft into IMC the aircraft requires a certain amount of minimum equipment, unless you have this approved equipment you can not fly into IMC with this aircraft! So in that case it does not matter regardless what the weather is, if the aircraft does not comply with what is required by the authorities you can not fly into IMC conditions deliberately with an aircraft. Some have permission to fly into IMC, but not when it exists icing conditions, if you don't have anti-ice/de-ice, you would not be allowed to fly into cloud at low temperatures!

At our flight school the de-icing went on around 4 - 5 degrees Celcius, before entering cloud. Pitot heat on.
You need constantly monitor temperature if you fly in to clouds, as temperature drops icing risk increases.

I used to fly a few Warrior and C-172 in Norway, compared to flying in England it was amazing in Norway, the scenario and visibility, flying in England is nearly always haze, and bad visibility, and handling the carb heat is much more used here than was required in Norway. Carb Heat would go on every 10 - 15 minutes, due to high risk of carb icing, also used different on approach. On the PA28 in Norway we did not use Carb Heat on the approach, here it is used until 200 - 300 ft before touchdown or until you touchdown, but has be removed asp on go around or touch and goes!

[truckflyer]

Listen don't think you are an idiot, your PPL instructor should have told you this, and Met explains what happens, flight planning and Ops. procedures goes more into these details + Air Law.

The remark that made me stare in awe, was when you wrote this, I quote you

"This is in fact the biggest head scratcher for me with the whole IR-business, i.e. how do you call it? How do you estimate what speed-margin to add with so and so much ice? And which weather you fly in?"

Having an IR, does not mean that suddenly the laws of physics and aerodynamics stop to exist! You have to show great care, IR means you can fly in IMC conditions, but the IR ratings should also teach you have you safely can fly in IMC conditions.
Icing does not only happen in freezing rain, after I got my IR I thought a bit about that, and found it useless to use with a poorly equipped Warrior. I believe the Arrow had the de-ice boots, however again that is more to be used as a last resort, as it lets the ice build up a little, before it breaks it of the wing.

The DA 42 was good, and was proper equipped for this use.

From the CAA UK:
http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/20110217SSL03.pdf

Have a read of this from AOPA, might tell you more:

http://www.aopa.org/asf/publications/sa11.pdf

[peterh337]

FlyForFunSweden

I haven't read the whole thread but I did the JAA IR in my own plane, finishing 2/2012.

- Can I use my Swedish ATPL exam credits in the UK?My understanding is that this depends on whose license you are adding the IR onto.

If you are adding it onto a UK license, then it is up to the UK CAA to decide whether they will accept non-UK exams towards UK training + flight test. You need to ask them. I did look into this (e.g. you can sit the Greek JAA exams at Athens for a mere 5 euros each, or in Slovakia for 20 euros for all of them) and was told that the CAA will not accept these. In such cases you have to do all the training plus flight test in the same country as the exams.

If you are adding it onto a Swedish license, then it is up to the Swedish CAA to decide whether they will accept non-UK exams towards UK training + flight test. You need to ask them.

The above may not be right in all cases but it is what I found. If say a UK pilot goes to Greece to do just the IR, the Greek CAA (HCAA) examiner fills in the UK CAA forms and then the UK CAA add the IR into your UK CAA issued license. The HCAA does not get involved in issuing the IR itself. But they would be involved if you had a PPL and wanted to do a CPL out there.

- What does one pay a UK instructor for IR training?It depends. I have seen from £90/hr to £140/hr, plus the aircraft.

- Does any one have ideas on good instructors/schools to contact?

Not many FTOs cater for customer aircraft. Most don't seem to like it. In the UK, there are several FTOs who are known for doing it, but I can't recommend any of them myself from experience, and the one I did my IR at was less than ideal too (it does almost no IR business today).

- What does one pay for the flight test in the UK?

About £800, plus the approval of the aircraft; total about £1000. Plus the aircraft of course :)

I have some notes here (http://www.peter2000.co.uk/aviation/jaa-ir/), if you like a lot of reading :) These are from an ICAO IR to JAA IR conversion (I have an FAA CPL/IR) but most of it is applicable regarding the strategy.

Regarding doing an IR in your own aircraft in Sweden being not possible, I suggest you check this out carefully. In this business, you often get a BIG NO from several FTOs who are set in their ways and simply don't want anybody doing anything other than a standard CPL/IR and who will rent their wreckage for £400+ per hour for 55 hours minimum, and they will you any number of bullsh*t excuses :) I suggest you do some research. Coming to the UK and living in a hotel for a good number of weeks, while flying every day, is no fun.