Worth getting IFR hours if moving to Top End?
 

Hi all,

I recently posted an article regarding moving to the Top End for flying. Would it be worth getting my IFR hours up if I move to the Top End? Note that I am based in NZ. If it's not worth it, what are the best ways for me to keep current/get my hours up that would benefit me in the Top End?

Cheers everyone

I wouldn’t bother getting IFR hours up personally. Best thing you can do is get over to the Top End and start resume dropping.

Avoid any GA course - the offering in Darwin is nothing more than certain operators making candidates pay for an interview. I believe a school at MKT now has a 210 which may be useful for Darwin famil / 200 famil but not necessary

Considering the terrible tropical wx in the Wet season, and the thick smoke nr the end of the Dry, I think its a given.

Get an IFR rating! Even though you will most likely be flying VFR Top End conditions can be challenging. Special VFR (is that even still around?), dry season smoke haze, etc. Not only that it means you don’t have to take time off to do it in the future and you are ready.

You may get lucky and have an IFR single that means you can keep current or do some night on returns? Not sure on that one!

Essentially up skills with valid legitimate courses that give you a license or a rating are always worth it.

Don’t bother ‘building’ IFR hours. Good idea to hold the qualifications though.

Any operator will want you to have plenty of VFR charter timer before upgrading you to IFR.

You will only go straight to IFR/multi if you already have charter experience in this type of operation. A few hours of private IFR time isn’t going to be worth the $$$

Sorry this too - get a few hours in a C210 or C206 if you can. Even better some VFR commercial ops hours doing scenic, skydiving etc

Having an IFR rating, or at least a very good grounding in the skills, could well be the thing that saves your life in Darwin, see aros's post, a 210 was lost (fatal to all on board - see link) some years ago when the driver backed himself into a corner and didn't have the skills. Depending who you land a job with progression to a twin can occur rather quickly and require an IFR rating.

https://www.atsb.gov.au/media/436124...-063_final.pdf

More recently a 210 broke up in flight due thunderstorm turbulence just a few minutes after take off from Darwin.

https://www.atsb.gov.au/media/577587...-102_final.pdf

Get the IFR rating if you’ve got the dollars now before heading up,

As some others have indicated, it will make you a safer pilot and certainly more employable, although I wouldn’t expect to get paid for having the rating for your first job.

Good luck and their are certainly jobs up here in Darwin right now for low time pilots.

Check your PM for a heads up.

Exactly this 🙌

And relevant single engine time (5-10 hours) will trump IFR time initially. No operator is going to let you fly IFR without substantial training so you'll get your hours up when that time comes.

Cheers everyone for the reply! I forgot to mention that I already do have my instrument rating and that I require a renewal, hence why I made this thread to see if it was worth renewing it and gaining more instrument hours.
It seems like there’s a mixture of responses, so in the meantime, I’ll probably find out the costs of renewing the instrument rating first and going from there.
To Hamley and 172heavy’s response, I’ll definitely pay to get time in C210 series, however I only know of two C210’s with NZ registrations so I will probably have to wait till I move to Aus to get that time.
I also hope this thread helps anyone in the future regarding gaining their instrument rating (if it’s worth it or not) or gaining more instrument time, whether it be directly or indirectly.

To echo many of the above, head up north with your Instrument rating completed but expect to fly single engine VFR for the first 1-2 years. Then you'll hopefully get your first Mulit upgrade, even then some operators still have you operating ME VFR. You don't want to have to request any time off to go get your MECIR, things happen quickly you need to be ready to go anytime. Whilst you are working you can get a feel for your companies progression and if its worth renewing your IR, typically guys can get this done when you take some annual leave.

I was in the Territory for 2 and a half years, feel free to send me a PM if you have any questions.