Where should I do my american IR ?

[LateFinals]

Happy New Year To All Pilots !

I've two weeks off in March and hope to go to the US for 10 days hour building and to undertake training and hopefully pass an FAA N reg instrument rating.

I have a "piggy back" FAA licence. Can I do my N Reg IR on this or do I need a full licence and what about additional visa requirements? I hold an IMC rating.

At this time in the year I'd welcome recommendations on where I should train. I'm looking for a friendly professional training school with good serviceable aircraft. Ideally I'd like real IMC conditions flyable every day, ? icing problems. I'm checked out on a cirrus,and would ideally like to do my IR my training on this or another glass cockpit aircraft.

Any ideas or recommendations much appreciated.

Safe Flying,

Late Finals

[ab33t]

10 days ? 40 hrs and the theory test is going to be hard going I flew twice a day and barely made it in 14 days , that also assumes you pass first time one mistake and you have to do a retest. Depending on the DPE you get the oral part could become an obstacle , some are ok others apply the PTS to the letter , mine did . On may 14 days I had done the Theory study prior to arriving in the US. Florida or Claifornia that time of the year is fine .

As per the previous post if you are looking at adding the IR maybe look at doing a full FAA licence as the way you intend doing it will mean you have to keep both licences going to ensure the FAA stays valid , bit of a pain but doable

[Contacttower]

If you're a current, proficient IMC rating holder than 10 days for the FAA IR is doable, just. My problem at the time of doing it was that I didn't actually have the 50 hours cross country time (as defined by the FAA as a flight landing at another airport more than 50 miles straight line distance from the departure point) and this slowed me down since I had to do this at the same time as doing the training for the rating itself.

I did the instruction at Florida Aviation Career Training at St Augustine in Florida during the summer and the number of flights cancelled due to thunderstorms was quite a lot. Add several days lost to tropical storm Fay and in the end I was out there for more like 20 days from start to finish. During March though the weather in Florida is better and when one does encounter IMC it's generally safer to operate in since it's not as convective as it gets during the summer.

10 days ? 40 hrs and the theory test is going to be hard going I flew twice a day and barely made it in 14 days

If you are a current IMC holder and have lots of instrument time then you don't have to do the 40hrs as part of the course, you just need 40hrs of instrument time of one sort or another in your logbook. Only 15hrs of instruction for the course is actually mandated so in theory if you already have 40hrs instrument time that's all you would have to do before taking the test....assuming your instructor is satisfied your skills are up to the required standard.

[englishal]

10 days is doable if you have a plan in advance...

Contact Angel City Flyers at Long Beach, they come well recommended and the chief pilot (and owner) is from Ireland, has JAA ATPL as well as FAA ATP and knows both systems which is handy....especially if you ever have a view to convert to JAA.

[debiassi]

Why do you specifically want to take it in America? In my opinion, its actually less involved to do the training in the UK and the flight test in France, especially if you plan to fly mainly in Europe. Why do I say this?? Well basically to do the IR flight test in the states is a full day event. You would have your oral in the morning and then would do the qualifying cross country flight with a pilot examiner which wcould incorporate a departure procedure, holds, vor tracking, a diversion etc etc. If you did the training in the UK, the qualifying cross country is a lot more leisurely and basically consists of a day out in a relaxed manner with your instructor. So by the time you meet the examiner, you basically have a 2 hour oral and probably a 2 hour give or take flight test where you basically show your competence by flying 3 different approaches say an ILS, a VOR and an ADF. Combined with some holds, vor tracking limited panel etc. It could be a bit risky attaching your IR to a 61.75 as things may change in the future so would probably be adbisable to do US PPL unless you plan to maybe do the CPL in the future in which case then no issues in attaching to the 61.75 on a temporary basis. Regarding your IMC rating. You need to be really carefull here. You can only have the IMC hours credited if the tuition was given by an instructor who is qualified to teach the IR sylabbus with no restrictions... If you require the details of an FAA instructor in the UK, please send me a PM and I will give you all the assistance you need.

[S-Works]

First of all, forget about doing the training in actual IMC, thats a no no.

Rubbish. What planet are you on? If your Instructor is incapable of training in IMC then change them.

[debiassi]

I dont think anyone said the instructors were incapable of training in IMC, it is not a pre requisite that actual training is given in actual IMC conditions and indeed neither is it a pre requisite to actually fly in IMC even to re validate every 6 months. To get practice flying in actual IMC, why pay an instructor when all you really need is a safety pilot/friend. If you asked an instructor to act as a safety pilot, then I am sure they would oblige, but the point I was making is that it is not required as part of the FAA IR syllabus for the candidate to fly in actual imc. He will however be required to wear a view limiting device.

[S-Works]

Please post the relevant regulation that says Instrument training must be in VMC, I am looking at the FAR now and see no such regulation.

In fact what I see is a requirement to have:

(2) Forty hours of actual or simulated instrument time in the areas of operation listed in paragraph (c) of this section, of which 15 hours must have been received from an authorized instructor who holds an instrument-airplane rating, and the instrument time includes:

[debiassi]

Have you seen how thick that book is ? lol. I have just received a pm advising me not to get into it. Apparently your famous on here, or is it infamous.

[S-Works]

Have you seen how thick that book is ? lol. I have just received a pm advising me not to get into it. Apparently your famous on here, or is it infamous.

So are you for a man who did his IR last year and were shot down the first time round that you demonstrated your 'expertise'.

As the holder of an FAA certificate you are required to be familiar with that thick book. You Must have therefore seen something in at that I have missed and I am sure therefore that you will revel in proving someone so 'infamous' wrong. So let's see it, show us where it says in the FAA regulations that training for the FAA IR must be carried out in VMC. This will validate your expert statement that "doing it in actual IMC is a big no no".

If you are going to join in with the pontification you need to know where to look for your answers, so go and open that thick book.

[debiassi]

I am informed that it is at the instructors disscretion so I have ammended my reply and hold up my hands in error.

[S-Works]

I am informed that it is at the instructors disscretion so I have ammended my reply and hold up my hands in error.

Thank you.

I therefore return to my original point. If your Instructor is unwilling to train in real IMC then I would consider other options. View limiting devices, especially those allowed under the FAA regime do not serve to provide effective restriction of the view. Spending time in real IMC will develop a far more rounded Instrument pilot. When teaching I try to give students as much real IMC time as possible.

[suraci]

Typical gotchas:-

Xcountry hours must be on flights greater than 50nm. (Take charts to demonstrate compliance if necessary?)

You need an FAA Class 3 medical

You must have met all the requirements for FAA PPL issue, including night dual Xcountry

Doing the theory exam without a reasonable knowledge of whereabouts in the US a particular state is located adds to the stress!

You'll have a fair amount of study to do to crack the theory exam come March - Gleim is your friend.

[20driver]

Just to throw in

Some schools will not do IFR instruction in IMC conditions. Seems strange, but then some of them disable the autopilot as well. My IR examiner used to do check ridges in IMC but gave that up after ending up in an "unusual attitude"

For the OP, I would specifically ask the school if they will do IFR instruction in IMC, there is no replacement for the real thing. Also ask them how the planes are equipped and if they include instruction on autopilot and GPS use. If they say they don't, (either have it or do it) I would go elsewhere.

The FAA made a change a while back on this and now the examiner can ask you to use anything in the airplane that is not placarded. So if you have an IFR GPR you can be asked to fly a GPS approach, (note is database current?) etc.

[172driver]

At our location ,if the aircraft is equipped - then the student is REQUIRED To be able to demonstrate competency in every piece of equipment including the Autopilot. Whether that is for the Private cert or an IR - all onboard equipment is required to be used competently.

Correct - and not a recent change. Has been the case for many years, and also correct, doesn't matter which ticket you're after.

What this means is that you should carefully check and chose which a/c you will do your training and checkride in. If, for example, you are competent on steam gauges but have never even seen an G1000, then it's probably not a great idea to try to do your IR AND become competent in a glass cockpit at the same time. Just one more thing to consider.....

[20driver]

Not sure if this is allowed

Back to the OP, you might want to consider an outfit called PIC.
The assign you a full time instructor with a very wonky old simulator and put you on a 7 day program. They arrange your check ride with a designated examiner.

They are very successful at this, it is all they do, they got me passed.
Problem is you need to provide the aircraft. I do know renters have made arrangements to get block rental for a week from FBO's and used PIC.

They will fly in IMC and work with all the equipment on board.

You need to have the written done before you start with PIC. And a warning, if you fail the written you cannot take it again for a period, 30 or 60 days.

One thing clear from this thread, schools can and do have policies that are different from the FAA's. Make sure you double check everything.

WX wise CA would be a good choice. You can usually find some IMC somewhere for practice.

Good luck,

[derekf]

My top tip would be do the writtens before you go over to get it out of the way and then focus on the flying. I did my FAA IR at American Flyers in Pompano and found them very good.

[20driver]

Back to OP

As I said, try to cross check everything you are told by trainers and others with the FAA info. I was told by the test center I had to wait 30 days if I failed to retake the written. Turns out not so. As I passed it was not an issue.

You need to check everything twice it seems.

20driver

[007helicopter]

IR in a CIrrus

If you want to do it in a CIrrus you can contact:

Lewis at Performance Flight - Home on the East Coast and you will be bound to get real IMC

If you want the West Coast John Fiscus at The Flight Academy - the Cirrus training experts is considered one of the top Cirrus Training organisations, they also have a Frasca simulator and you can do some of the hours in the Sim, although the weather may hold you back in a short time scale. The also have a base in Las Vegas.

If you want a warmer climate and some may argue better if a short timescale as there will be less cancelled days due to snow and ice then go to Air Orlando Aviation I have never trained with them but will be renting a Cirrus from them in June and have heard good things about there training programme for the IR