Oh, do read my posts:

10 of us chose to do the exams last summer, most in 2 hits ie 8 weeks study.

I knocked them off in June/August with an average score of just under 94% and in the group there were very few fails: To the extent that CATS took out a strap Ad on the flyer website offering congratulations.

Most did not bother with the manuals , though there were a couple of existing sets of manuals passed down on a free 'hand-me-down' basis. I did get the manuals because I have problems learning 'off screen'.

Those that haven't completed the exams/started the flying training are doing it this way from choice: they have work/family/financial commitments and it suits to leave one exam (the p*ss easy IFRCOM) till last which allows a three year stopwatch to do the flying to start.

I think we are broadly in agreement that getting the FAA/IR in some situations is less hassle but brings with it potential problems.

I think we also agree that the proposed simplified EASA PPL/IR would be most welcome.

If I was 35 again I'd probably wait for that. Just now, though time ain't on my side........


Cusco

Sorry, I was just quoting from the Flyer IR Support forum....;)

I think, for private owner-pilots, waiting for a better time is a mistake.

In this business, there is always a cloud on the horizon, and also another bus "just around the corner". Yet, usually, neither of these actually happens or, if it does happen, it happens in a modified form.

If you want to fly NOW then get the papers NOW and get the plane NOW.

Use the best route available for your circumstances, consistent with not closing off escape routes (e.g. avoid buying a plane which has had a pile of mods for which the paperwork cannot be found, because while that is OK for now, it will not be saleable abroad when you have to get an Export CofA).

I never noticed any IR Support Forum on Flyer :)

IO540:

You have a PM>

Cusco

It is hidden from the non-believers ;) I'm like an Angel, I float in there from time to time and have a gander...:)

I'd say "good luck to them".

It is admirable to motivate such a number of people, following many years in which the UK IR issue numbers have been barely above single figures a year.

I just think that one should be doing this stuff because one has a clear focus on flying IFR around Europe and already has the budget worked out for the purchase of a suitable long distance high altitude capable aircraft (£100k plus), not because one got a few hundred quid discount on the ground school :)

Myself, I've had over 3 years of super trips, following 3 years of flying dodgy "VFR" to much the same places and getting all kinds of crap on the way. I expect to have a good 3 more years before anything changes; that is 6 years of great flying. After that, I am guaranteed all this anywhere outside EASA-land (IOW most of the world) for the rest of my valid-medical life. Not a bad deal really. If EASA screw us FAA pilots, we will have to go out and buy some more silly papers.....

Mind you, IFR doesn't eliminate crap. It merely eliminates most of the VFR crap one gets when airborne. Loads of crap remains on the ground. It's just a different kind of crap; for the most part a kind of crap which can be dealt with using standardised methods. In long distance VFR flight, you get all kinds of unexpected crap when in the air.