70% of US IFR rated PPLs do not use their rating

It might be true. Many US pilots get the instrument rating because it thinks it makes them safer pilots (sure does), even when flying only VFR. This works because getting the instrument rating is so much easier than over here. No fuss, no bureaucracy, no nothing. Just plain flying and some (home study learning (part 61). Pilots can call their buddy flight instructor from PPL training days to do most of the training with them, doesn’t even need to be a CFII. Of course using their own plane. It’s just entirely a different thing.

But then the truth is: most private pilots, even in the US, don’t need to fly on any schedule. They fly purely for fun/leisure, so there is little point for them flying in IFR weather. And even when it’s VFR conditions, there is no major advantage to flying IFR instead if VFR in the States (as long as they don’t want to fly above 18000 feet). No airspace hassles like in Italy, UK or France. To the contrary, IFR routings tend to be longer, at least in the big metro areas. So except for weather capability, there is no real advantage to flying IFR.

To the contrary, IFR routings tend to be longer, at least in the big metro areas.

Very true. Earlier this year departing KSMO in marginal VFR, ground asked if I wanted IFR or VFR and then went on to explain that the wait for an IFR slot was around 90 minutes. Off I went within about three minutes…..

That said, especially in places like the L.A. basin having an IR is definitely worth it, as it allows you to get through the marine layer, especially if you are based at one the coastal airports like KSMO.

All of the above is true in my experience, and 70% also sounds right to me.

I think pop-up IFR clearances are perhaps another factor in the US. Its common to fly VFR en route and then for instance (as 172driver explains) when finding a coastal marine layer problematic to call up approach and get a clearance to the destination airport and ILS. Listening to Palm Springs Tower and Approach (same channel on www.liveatc.net)) you can hear a fair bit of that, but more often the IFR clearance is a useful if time consuming back up option and the flight continues VFR to the destination.

The typical amount of pre-flight preparation necessary for a cross-country flight in the US seems to be a fraction of that required for the same distance in Europe. Flight plans, PPR, fuel availability aren’t necessarily issues, and weather in about half the country tends to be better. So you might say that for many US pilots (regardless of ratings) IFR operation is ‘out of the box’ in terms of simply getting their plane cross country from A to B.

It is possible, because in all private flying there is a degree of risk compensation i.e. you pick the weather according to how good you and your plane are.

The difference is that the US IR is easier to get (easier in many “logistical” ways, though the checkride standard is IME at least as hard as the European one) and vastly easier to keep (no €200/year EASA IR revalidation checkride) so while a US pilot may just choose to not use it (so long as he logs the 6 approaches every 6 months which is easy for almost any aircraft owner) a European pilot has to make the hard decision whether to keep it revalidated, and is likely to just drop it if he doesn’t actually need it. For example I know a number of ex airline pilots who initially gained the SE IR on their retirement but nearly all of them dropped it right away because they fly mostly “rag and tube” types.

Also the community of pilots actually flying for real is quite stagnant – in the USA and in Europe. So the average pilot has been doing it for maybe 15-20 years, and since the US IR uses the rolling currency, if you gave it up after say 5 years, the majority of existing pilots will have given it up, but it won’t show up in any stats.

The biggest thing is that US IFR is at least as safe as European IFR, in the accident rate. So, what does that tell you? It tells you that revalidations have no effect on safety (probably due to risk compensation, and pilots being mostly pretty intelligent people). Come to think of it you will find the same with medicals…..

I would not agree with

there is no major advantage to flying IFR instead if VFR in the States

because the FAA will bust people who are doing the totally in-your-face “IVFR” stuff which is often necessary in Europe, where you e.g. depart “VFR” straight into OVC002, from a Class G airport, collecting your IFR clearance in the climb.

The no-Class-A below 18000ft merely means that VFR in good wx is easy over there, whereas VFR in any wx is hard in Europe unless one is doing it in the traditional European way which is flying below cloud.

IFR routings are nearly always longer, due to sids and stars. You also get various funny business enroute but on the whole one can shave much of that off on the actual flight, by asking ATC for shortcuts.

FAA will bust people who are doing the totally in-your-face “IVFR” stuff which is often necessary in Europe, where you e.g. depart “VFR” straight into OVC002, from a Class G airport, collecting your IFR clearance in the climb.

For coastal locations, the standard US solution is an IFR clearance to a VOR a few miles away from the airport, including uncontrolled airports, from which point the flight continues VFR. It is very useful for those who do it.

Many/most European private IR holders also use their IRs only in such a minimal way, but a pilot doing that should not answer “no” to a question like “do you still use your IR”

Asking for an IFR clearance is using your IR even if you are VMC.

I bet airline pilots spend close to 99% of their airborne time in VMC, too.

Many/most European private IR holders also use their IRs only in such a minimal way, but a pilot doing that should not answer “no” to a question like “do you still use your IR”

Sure, no question.

What I think happens more generally in the US is that a good proportion of IFR rated pilots think of filing IFR as a back up strategy, don’t maintain currency, and don’t install up to date (or certified) avionics in their bird as time goes by. As time goes by they transition to ‘pop-up’ and ‘short-term’ IFR operations, then to being glad of having the training but never flying in IMC. Obviously the training makes for a safer pilot regardless.

My most qualified piloting mentor has tens of thousands of hours in everything up to being an L-1011 captain, flies his RV all around the US, but nowadays I don’t believe he ever files a flight plan of any kind. He’s retired so more flexible than some. I’ll ask him about this, now just out of curiosity.

I would question the source of the information as it doesn’t compute with my experience. Some pilots have difficulty maintaining currency and stop using IFR, but I suspect that more stop flying all together because of marriage, kids, college, job. In large sections of the US, IFR pilots don’t need or use airways, exceptions being in the NE triangle and the far west. Almost all of my flights are via direct or via selecting a VOR or two near my direct route as anchor points. Rarely these routes add more than a few miles to an IFR direct route. I chose the VOR’s primarily for terrain, over water, military and restricted airspace avoidance. When the conditions are VMC, I file IFR for almost all cross country travel and chose VFR primarily for short routes around Class B and cases where I am delayed or the route is out of the way. In other words, I use VFR as a backup to an inconvenient IFR flight. My opinion is that for those pilots who maintain their IFR currency prefer IFR flight over VFR flight in the US. If you fly any distance in the US, the odds are that you will encounter adverse weather where IFR is an advantage over VFR. If the pilot only flies on the weekends and in the local area, then they don’t have a need to maintain their IFR currency, but their IFR rating remains in effect and they can regain currency at any point in the future.

Compared to outside the US, maintaining currency is very easy. There are no recertifications required. A pilot may maintain currency to file and fly as PIC for an IFR flightplan by flying 6 approaches, a hold, and tracking courses using electronic means within the previous 6 calendar months (meaning up to 7 months will qualify). If they don’t fly sufficient IFR to accumulate these requirements, they can meet these requirements by flying with another private pilot or better to act as a safety pilot. Only if the IFR currency has lapsed for 6 additional calendar months, does the pilot need to fly with an instrument flight instructor and complete an instrument proficiency check. The government is not involved in the process.