I agree; if you want the capability now, get it now.
Jfw, I am in the same position flying wise and I thought a lot about EIR/CBIR.
My conclusion is that if one lives in the northern half of Europe, EIR brings little value. We have lots of crappy weather and what I look for is making departures and approaches.
If you live in southern Europe and have mostly good weather, EIR may be useful as a Class A licence. Italy comes to mind.
EIR allows you to depart VFR, cruise above weather (cruising inside weather i would avoid) and approach VFR. That’s basically called VFR on top ! But what we need to do that regularly is being able to make an approach if the weather changes and destination becomes IFR, or being able to depart a field stuck in the morning fog while it’s nice everywhere else.
That’s my “northern French” opinion but I think in Belgium it is applicable. It is based on the fact that switching to IFR without an Eurocontrol FPL and getting an IAP is doable in France at mosts IFR fields. I don’t know for belgium.
I’d be happy to continue this discussion :)
Yes, you are right. The EIR obviously got it the wrong way around and the fact that it “failed” on the market shows this. The EIR was mostly a result of some initiative from a specific corner of the UK GA scene, where, with their pre-existing IMC rating, the EIR did make “some” sense.
I also agree that the BIR will take several more years until you can actually walk into any ATO and and start. So the CBIR it is for now, even though it is a big effort.
It‘s a big effort in terms of theory, but when it’s done, I think it’s ‚almost‘ a full IR. EIR never took off because the theory never has been cleaned of the stuff you don’t need.
Concerning the BIR, other posters are more expierienced than me but these proposals take normally years and years to be written in the law, and then rougly 2 years to be implemented in flight schools.
In addition, there is quite a shortage of IRIs and IFR planes on the rental scene than makes me think that IFR will not become instantly easy and convenient with the BIR.
And in addition, BIR won’t be ICAO so you will have to convert it one day to the full IR (to fly in the US specially 
).
The conversion route looks easy for now which is a good point though.
My personal plan is to find a 1-year window in my life during which I will work hard to get the CB IR. If BIR is ready by the time I start, I think i will go for it and then convert to CB IR, but BIR is not written in law and its characteristics may change. Wait and see.
But I wouldn’t specifically wait for the BIR. If you have time and money to go for it now, do it now !
I think some people did it with less than 165h.
As a bystander – what a mess. CBIR, EIR, IR, IMC rating. Good god – replace it all with a single thing that’s easily achievable and has clear requirements that everyone can understand.
EuroFlyer wrote:
t‘s a big effort in terms of theory, but when it’s done, I think it’s ‚almost‘ a full IR
It IS a full IR. Even the zero-to-frozen ATP-guys are mostly going the CB route nowadays. At least if they are sufficiently educated about it and do not believe in flight schools telling them that this is not possible.
Most zero to hero schools provide the CBIR route – although at least in the U.K., this leads to up to six weeks in the CAA issuing the rating. The full IR is issued in the day.
You need the rating to get the credit for I/F for your CPL.
Even the zero-to-frozen ATP-guys are mostly going the CB route nowadays
That is interesting. It was widely expected when the CB IR was being debated but I would have thought that it would not have become the most common airline pilot route because
You need the rating to get the credit for I/F for your CPL.
I had just this discussion with a prospective airline pilot the other day. Is this why the IR is done first and then the CPL?
The main reason for the IR first, is that it counts towards the minimum total hours time for the CPL. If you carry out all your training in minimum hours, this route saves you some hour building (around £2-3k), conversely if you can’t manage the transition smoothly from Traumahawk/152 to MEP/IR, you may find yourself going over budget on your IR at £400-500 per hour.
Statistically, I suggest that CPL first makes more sense. You are more likely to get a first time IR pass in minimum hours (15 in aircraft, 20 in FNPT2) having first gained a CPL, and you are transitioning from an Arrow with CPL type drills already learned.
There are students who get to First Officer in 200 hours using the modular route, but they represent less than 3%.
