Does anyone know if an EIR alone is sufficient to stop ATPL credits from expiring?
I ask because I’m undecided whether to pursue a CPL/IR under EASA – I’m interested in taking the EIR next year and whilst it’s a lot more work, I would be inclined to take the 14 ATPL exams to keep my options open. Just don’t want it to go all to waste if the CPL comes, say, 7 years down the line.
AviatorDelta wrote:
As such it would seem UK IMCR + EASA EIR would be a perfect combination for me.My question is what are other peoples views on this topic? Am I deluded?
Not deluded, but making it overcomplex. If you want approach privileges and don’t want the other limitations of the IMC rating (no class A, UK only), do the CB IR. The TK is the same and the time required in an ATO (10 hours) is the same as if you do an EIR. You don’t need to spend 15 hours learning how to fly straight and level in an airway.
FlyingSnoopy wrote:
Does anyone know if an EIR alone is sufficient to stop ATPL credits from expiring?Just don’t want it to go all to waste if the CPL comes, say, 7 years down the line.
I don’t think EIR is enough as it’s not IR (it’s a different rating, just like night rating). And after seven years, you won’t be able to use the ATPL theory pass to get CPL. For issue of CPL or IR, the pass is valid only for three years and can’t be extended. The seven year validity and possibility to extend it is only for issue of ATPL. That’s how I understand it. You can check out FCL.025(c).
bookworm wrote:
The TK is the same and the time required in an ATO (10 hours) is the same as if you do an EIR.
Yes, the theory is the same, but flight training is 15 hours versus 40. As I wrote today in a different topic, getting credits for flying outside of instruction is not that easy (it’s instrument flight time, not IFR). And unless the instructor is (was?) IRI(A) or FI with the privilege to train for IR, the limit is 15 hours for CB IR and 0, IIRC, for EIR (single-engine). If he is, it’s 30 hours and 5 hours respectively. So yes, if you have 30 hours instrument dual under your belt from IRI(A) (and you manage to satisfy the person administering pre-entry assessment that you deserve full 30 hour credit), it’s 10 hours either way.
It’s certainly more complicated than you suggested.
PS: Curious bug. There should be A in parenthesis behind both IRI and FI (right after “was?”) and it is here in the editor, but in the post I see it only after IRI.
Do you not have any instrument time as PiC?
I’m not the one deciding between EIR and IR. The point is that instrument flight time doesn’t accumulate that fast. You can, of course, go out and sit in IMC on purpose, preferably with a weather radar. But the usual way, it can take 200 hours of flying under IFR to accumulate, say, 15 hours of instrument flight time. And not everyone even tracks instrument flight time in their logbooks.
@MarcelK my experience has been the same with Orbit, it makes the course a bit complicated. You would expect them to sort it out for the €1.900,00 they are asking for it? They sent me the ATPL package and initialy forgot to send the EIR .pdf’s along with it. I got those quite a bit later.
Anyway, only now am I actually starting to make progress with the studies. How time flies…. I hope to complete most of it this april. I’ve signed up with ATC COMM to do my IR RT. The course starts next week.
Hope to get all the theory and RT sorted this spring. At Teuge they are still busy getting their EIR syllabus approved. If they have not succeeded before summer I might divert to Lelystad for the practical bits.
@bobo, i am participating in the ATC-comm training starting next week (jan 27th) as well. We’ll talk to each other there i suppose. ;-)
In the mean while i have passed 5 of the 7 exams, hopefully i have passed them all by this friday.
VCR also have not sorted out the CB-IR syllabus yet unfortunately, but we are able to start with the BIF training syllabus (of 10 hours). Those hours will be used for the first part of the CB-IR training as well.
