So, the blog is alive, and I still keep going.
Any professional pilot path starts from the PPL (Private Pilot License). After that you’re good to go by visual cues all by yourself. In Europe only day flights are legal (night rating should be obtained to fly at night), in the US you’re allowed to fly at night as well. The course is usually from 40 to 60 hours with a theoretical and flight tests at the end.
Then in the EASA world you need a night rating. It’s 5 flight hours, and it does not require any formal exam apart from a green light from the flight instructor. With this rating it’s possible to fly at night.
The next step is usually the Instrument Rating (IR). Typically it is the most expensive part of the training. I already possess the FAA IR, and now I am ready to add the EASA IR to my EASA license.
Normally the EASA IR program includes at least 45 dual flight hours, and requires 50 cross-country hours as a prerequisite.
Foreign IR holders (including FAA IR) can go through the competency-based IR program. Formally it is at least 40 instrument hours, including 10 hours in the EASA-approved flight school, at least 25 total dual instrument received time, and up to 30 PIC IR hours.
The ambiguous point is how the national CAA interprets dual flight instruction (whether FAA instruction counts or not). And the key difference is that dual received time cannot be considered as EASA PIC time (FAA allow to log PIC time in some cases).
In my case I need 10 hours in the EASA flight school since I already have the rest including passed ATPL theory. But it’s really hard to find a school which is interested in doing CB-IR: usually it’s much easier for them (and more profitable) to sign you up for a complete instrument course.
I found the school in Czech Republic (it’s Aviaticky Klub).
So I am flying again, again in a Cessna 172, again by instruments. Now it’s a diesel version. In Czech it is not required to use a view-limiting device, so I can also look outside. The adventure is starting!
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