Not answering too specially but I’d pick the most convenient distance learning and focus mainly on the question bank to pass the tests.
The great thing about the cb ir is the flexibility once you start the practical flying (30hours with any instrument instructor outside of ato).
You don’t learn real world ifr flying in an online course and even less via multiple choice exams, you learn it by flying ifr from a-b in europe.
My ifr training consisted 90% of uselessqdm/qdr, ndb holding, complicated non precision approaches. Overly complicated and far from reality. In my flying ever since I’ve done NONE of this.
It’s really kind of unfathomable why the theory and the training for an IR should be so far removed from real-world IR flying. I mean, it’s not like there’s not loads to learn – why not teach what’s genuinely useful?
I’ve now done two more mock tests without study, no more than 8 mins spent. IFR Comms, and instruments. IFR Comms was kind of OK, covered similar ground in IMC and just failed with 71%, plenty of things out of my scope of knowledge still but seemed somewhat practical. Totally failed Instruments, sub 40%. Probably should have known some of that stuff from IMC or PPL but was a while ago.
Definitely all three contain things I know nothing about….. I guess that makes sense (although I know a fair chunk of it I really don’t need to know about, beyond the exams anyway).
I’d imagine most present IR holders would fare similar in those tests.
https://www.euroga.org/articles/misc/competency-based-modular-instrument-rating
I wrote a detailed article here hope it is some use!
It was, thanks, I saw on the F forum and have just read it.
I did the CB-IR theory in 2016 and just did one maybe two subjects at a time, in the Netherlands I could do the exams individually, whenever my ATO approved me for it. Aviation Exam was a great help! My plan was to get most of the theory out of the way before starting the actual flying, that worked out nicely for me.
I did the CBIR route to the IR (which is no different to the “standard” IR in regards to validity) based out of London 2 years ago – if you have any very specific questions feel free to PM me!
On the general stuff above:
VFR-UK wrote:
I’m in London so seems like there’s a couple obvious choices for the theory:
-CATS – quite bit more expensive but some say better materials. When I contacted them they said they were first to offer and train the most CBIRs of anyone.
-CAPT.gs – quite a bit cheaper, and apparently weekend refreshers but I couldn’t see any on their calendar.
I think this depends on whether you are an independent learner or need a bit of “hand-holding” throughout. I’d say if you are the former go for the cheapest option, get AviationExam and PadPilot and you can consider the 2-3 day course as a formality. If you need a more guidance I’d be more careful on who you choose especially since their remote help (i.e. when you e-mail for assistance) can sometimes be poor. I won’t share in public who I used but mine was definitely not great for the latter kind of learner.
VFR-UK wrote:
How to sit the exams – can you just take each individually when you’re ready or do you need to do them in chunks, grouped per most websites, in two blocks of 4 and 3 subjects?
You have something called “sittings”. I think you get 6 in the UK. You however have 7 exams so at the minimum you do need to do two in one sitting. A sitting is one week. Keep in mind – if you fail & need to resit any you’d have a problem…. I recommend to spread 7 exams across 3 sittings (3 weeks). That gives you 3 sittings for re-sits should you need them. Also trecking out to Gatwick CAA 6 times is not fun.
VFR-UK wrote:
Is their 36month validity from the date you pass the last one, or each individually?
These are practicalities you don’t want to worry about – the truth is if you play it to close you may find yourself in some form of trouble one way or another. Bear in mind the paperwork process takes forever. Scheduling an examiner can take time. There can be delays in your training for a whole series of reasons. Once you’ve committed to starting I’d recommend you see it through in one go.
VFR-UK wrote:
Meanwhile, would I bother retraining to renew my IMC rating? I doubt I’d pass the full test without a fair few hours, so am uncertain I’d this would be a waste of time and should just focus on the training needed to pass the full IR test.
If you take this route I’d suggest you find yourself an instructor for the IR(R) who is also qualified to teach the IR. The test standards / syllabus are different and you would want someone who can prepare you to the same high standard of the IR for the IR(R). When I ran the numbers this dual route was more expensive than pushing through to the IR right away but believe that is very much a personal circumstance question.
TimR wrote:
You have something called “sittings”. I think you get 6 in the UK. You however have 7 exams so at the minimum you do need to do two in one sitting. A sitting is one week. Keep in mind – if you fail & need to resit any you’d have a problem…. I recommend to spread 7 exams across 3 sittings (3 weeks). That gives you 3 sittings for re-sits should you need them. Also trecking out to Gatwick CAA 6 times is not fun.
You always get 6 sittings (ref. FCL.025(b)(3)) but what a “sitting” means is different in every country.
According to people at the Swedish CAA, when part-FCL was written it was impossible to reach an agreement between EASA countries about rules for time periods in which to take the exams. Some countries required several exams to be taken in one go at a limited number of occasions. Others did not make any such restrictions. No one would bulge.
The solution was to make a limit of 6 sittings, but let a “sitting” be a time period of anything from one up to 10 (!!) days, as determined by the competent authority. (Ref. AMC1 FCL.025 (e)) The Swedish CAA even goes one step further and interprets “day” as “workday” so a “sitting” in Sweden is actually 14 (!!!) calendar days.
Airborne_Again wrote:
in Sweden is actually 14 (!!!) calendar days
With 14 day sittings and invigilator system, Sweden is the best. I’m doing exams in Sweden now and there’s just no comparison to what it looks like in Poland.
14 day sittings allow passing an extra subject at the end of the sitting without any preparation before.
Invigilator system allows flexible setting of date and time. Also less stress, as one takes the exam individually vs a room full of nervous people.
Only drawback I see is no printing policy. Say, if a performance chart is not in CAP698, you’re out of luck. Ruler to the screen ;-)
Getting back up to speed simulating an airways routing, followed by two ILS approaches into London Southend Airport on a relatively convective summer afternoon.
We depart Stapleford in the DA40 IFR routing towards CLN (Clacton VOR) then request radar vectors for the ILS for RWY 23, we complete two approaches before making a missed approach back to base.
Landing Runway 23 – EGMC – UK
Being the first vlog of a new format, please make sure you can give us as much feedback as possible as it will help with future videos in this new way of showcasing. Thanks for watching and enjoy the flight.
