Learning to fly, or thinking of learning? Post your questions, comments and experiences here

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By WelshRichy
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1833279
Hi All,

Probably a question for written exam ground examiners.

It has been a fair while since my IMC Rating was last valid (+10 years) and as a pre-requisite for the CB-IR I will be renewing the rating this year once we are out of lockdown and I have some recency back in my logbook. As it has been over 10 years I do need to pass the written exam once again.

I am using this time as prep time for the written exam and am wondering how out of date are the current papers? I.e. do they still refer to Quadrantal Rules even through they no longer exist and/or do they refer to the old rules, i.e. allowing a "vanilla" PPL to fly in Class D airspace under SVFR with a reduced visibility requirement of 3KM? Or do the exams simply refer to the new rules we've adopted since SERA?

Also, are they paper based still or have they also been migrated to the online system?

Just wondering what I am letting myself in for and what I need to remember from years back that is no longer relevant. :D

Many thanks in advance.
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By marioair
#1833478
Is there a limit on the age of the IFR hours you can use to credit towards your CBIR? if you have enough hours from you’re IMCr, why bother renewing, just go do the CBIR?
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By WelshRichy
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1833482
I've not seen a time limit and don't think there is one, but I'll check.

I have a (lapsed) FAA IR but last IPC was May 2010. 70 hours simulated & real instrument time over the years but I don't have 50-hours IFR PIC post-FAA IR thus going down the 7-exam route is just easier for me although this will take some time to complete.

I'm just looking to renew the IMC/IR(R) this year as I am also undergoing FI training (once lockdowns allow!) and I may not be in a position to complete the practical element of the IR until late next year or even early the following year, depending on whether I decide to go down the SE-IR or ME-IR option. In the mean time I do want to have some legal option to get back into our base airfield if needed (ILS equipped etc.).

My instructor also happens to be an IR examiner thus the IMC re-training will be very useful nonetheless, even if I don't technically require the IMC/IR(R) to be renewed.
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By marioair
#1833496
Makes sense. If you were doing the practical imminently I would have said just start the ATO aspects of the CBIR but given your situation you’re suggestion makes sense.
I’d be tempted to go for the ME-IR unless you’re using the same Instrcutor and examiner for the SE and ME otherwise you’ll spend more cash.
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By WelshRichy
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1833514
marioair wrote:Makes sense. If you were doing the practical imminently I would have said just start the ATO aspects of the CBIR but given your situation you’re suggestion makes sense.
I’d be tempted to go for the ME-IR unless you’re using the same Instrcutor and examiner for the SE and ME otherwise you’ll spend more cash.


Thank you and I will most definitely bear this in mind. I will probably go for the ME-IR in any case so that I have instructional options in the future, way down the line once I have a lot more instructional experience than I do now (zero!). :D
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By David Wood
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1833562
Last time I looked at it the IMCR exam was still shamefully out of date, necessitating the use of an ancient chart printed on parchment and covered with a decade or so of previous candidate's markings. Really hopeless and frankly a disgrace...

That said I would personally recommend renewing the rating even if it means answering questions that are years out of date. I run mine in parallel with my IR on the basis that if the latter lapses for whatever reason I can still do 90% of my IFR flying in the priviledges of the IRR. And the IR and IRR can both be revalidated on the same flight providing you get the examiner to include the one item oddly missing from the IR test schedule but present in the IRR test schedule.
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By WelshRichy
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1833672
David Wood wrote:Last time I looked at it the IMCR exam was still shamefully out of date, necessitating the use of an ancient chart printed on parchment and covered with a decade or so of previous candidate's markings. Really hopeless and frankly a disgrace...

That said I would personally recommend renewing the rating even if it means answering questions that are years out of date. I run mine in parallel with my IR on the basis that if the latter lapses for whatever reason I can still do 90% of my IFR flying in the priviledges of the IRR. And the IR and IRR can both be revalidated on the same flight providing you get the examiner to include the one item oddly missing from the IR test schedule but present in the IRR test schedule.


Thank you @David Wood that is really appreciated and I'll ensure I revise the old out of date information from when we had a variation of ~5W or even more across the UK. :lol:

I was will be doing the same in keeping my IR(R) valid at alternative IR revalidations, can always leave the IR lapse for a year before renewing as majority of my flying, if not all, will probably be within the scope of an IR(R).
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By NDB_hold
#1833820
Thanks - rings a bell now you mention it. I think someone's mentioned that before. An odd omission but perhaps the IR syllabus assumes you’ll never either a. fly an approach to AD not runway; b. break out in a position to make a circuit but not safely land. The second seems an odd omission though - encouraging you to manoeuvre to try to land when a low level circuit would be a safer option. But I guess airliners just 'go missed.'
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By David Wood
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1833825
NDB_hold wrote:Thanks - rings a bell now you mention it. I think someone's mentioned that before. An odd omission but perhaps the IR syllabus assumes you’ll never either a. fly an approach to AD not runway; b. break out in a position to make a circuit but not safely land. The second seems an odd omission though - encouraging you to manoeuvre to try to land when a low level circuit would be a safer option. But I guess airliners just 'go missed.'


Sure. But the IR isn't just for airliners...

And although flying a circle-to-land (essentially a bad weather circuit) for real isn't common, it is occasionaly called for. I've had do it once 'for real'. It is also a potentially very hazardous element of an approach, combining a segment of low speed/low vis/low level flight with a high cockpit workload in a visually disorientating scenario. It beggars belief, in my opinion, that it isn't tested as part of the IR. But it isn't.