10-15 years ago or more, almost everybody wanting IFR capability was going N-reg. I started it in 2003 and finished with the IR in 2006 and the CPL in 2007.
With the obstacles put up in recent years
I can’t see many people going N-reg now, as a new project.
N-reg was always mostly about the IR and going-places. You don’t need the IR for aerobatics or local flying. Still today most of the IR community is N-reg but there are very few “young” people in it (even compared to the rest of GA!) and pilots are gradually dropping out. I see this happening among people I know. Lots of long trips done and boxes ticked, not enough participation in pilot communities (EuroGA is good for that 
), medical issues not getting easier… These pilots are mostly not going EASA-reg (almost nobody has made that particular move, with some rare exceptions like FAA medical issues); they are dropping out of flying totally. And few new pilots are replacing them.
Obviously the disappearance of the N-reg community is the EU/EASA dream come true, but they always claimed that by producing a more favourable regulatory climate they will get people to move from N to EASA-reg. This is mostly not happening. Pilots are dropping out completely.
In terms of the IR exactly that is happening as well in FCL and also in what the airplane needs to fly IFR if not commercial. Similarly, EASA has done away mostly with TBO for non commercial planes too. These 3 things were major stimulants for flying N-Reg.
Obviously other stuff remains though, such as a bunch of mods and stc’s which are not available to EASA reg owners, experimentals which fly IFR and so on. While particularly the latter is a problem legally, in fact it’s done all the time without too much hubbub unless something goes wrong.
Will it disappear? I doubt it. GA is declining and will be declining further in the current political climate, maybe even get legal hurdles thrown from a totally different side, but N-reg will stay attractive to those who feel they do better under FAA rule than under EASA. Maybe some of them will eventually make the logical step and go where their plane is registered.
Those who stop flying IFR probably do not want to revert to VFR because they forgot how to do because they find nothing comparable to IFR touring (and IFR is illegal in ULs/experimentals).
Those who enter IFR flying are not young, and have never been I guess. I know quite some pilots in their 50s who took the test recently with the FAA DPE in Le Touquet. It is still a thing.
I am sure the slow but steady drip of factors against N reg has had a cumulative effect. Indeed, if I were looking to purchase an SEP or even MEP the fact it was N reg would be a negative factor in my evaluation. This is due to many factors which include the possibility that the owner has chosen N reg to reduce maintenance costs, which in certain circumstances means to skimp on maintenance. There is also the ongoing hassle with ramp checks which are (anecdotally) targeted at N reg, ongoing FCL issues, etc etc.
I recently toyed with the idea of buying an N reg machine, and I planned to make it G reg. My contingency should the G reg be unavailable was to put it on the Guernsey register.
The dream purchase for many private owners is generally G reg (and VAT paid.of course)
I think the N reg scene faces death by a thousand cuts.
I’ve been struggeling with this too. I could participate in a very nice Saratoga, but it’s on N reg and this holds me back. I know the owner well and wouldn’t have thought twice if it was a EASA registered plane.
Jujupilote wrote:
Those who enter IFR flying are not young, and have never been I guess.
Where does that impression originate? Are there facts to back it up on a Europe-wide basis, or is it just the case in France?
Where I fly, the school has 4x diesel C172’s with G1000 for post-PPL training and charter, at a 600m grass strip! There are 42 students (Tecnams & C152’s for ab-initio). Most of them are under 35. The Cessna’s were specifically configured to allow IR training and I believe that there are att about 10 IR students. Is that an isolated case in all of Europe?
One question that I can’t answer is how much the C172s are used for IFR charter post-rating, or what the students with new IR’s do with it.
Jujupilote wrote:
Those who enter IFR flying are not young, and have never been I guess.
I used to be young
Jujupilote wrote:
Those who enter IFR flying are not young, and have never been I guess
You mean IFR touring? same as VFR touring in EASA aircraft no, nothing specific to IFR & N-reg
Putting “tech startup owner” or “youtube celebrity” aside, I think most young people are busy working until they can afford their own aircraft
The same applies to vintage flying, vfr flying, tail wheel flying, glider flying… and the whole list goes on
Tough you will seen many young people in aeros and flight schools doing IFR/VFR flying
I think what jujupilote might have said was that anecdotally, here in France, most private pilots taking the CBIR/EIR are slightly older than average. There are of course many young IR students who see it as part of their training for a future career.
If I were to get an IFR tourer, or even something like a vintage twin (I’ve always hankered after an Apache WITHOUT the Geronimo mods), I would absolutely go N reg. But then again, not living in an EASA state, I don’t suffer the ‘dual papers’ issue. I also would not need to use a trust which is another (albeit minor) factor.
