Flight Crew Licensing — Page 83, Lesson 135

Right, let's get into the Instrument Rating for Aeroplanes — the IR(A). This is the rating that lets a pilot fly in Instrument Flight Rules, which is essentially flying by reference to the instruments rather than by looking outside. The knowledge requirements for this rating are tied directly to that privilege — you need to know the theory of operating under IFR. And the skill requirement is very specific: if you want to fly a multi-engine aeroplane under IFR, you have to demonstrate that you can fly it solely on instruments with one engine inoperative. That's a critical safety demonstration. The regulations do allow synthetic trainers to be used to demonstrate these skills, so you don't have to do every bit of it in the actual aircraft. Now, the experience requirements. To even apply, you must hold either a Private Pilot Licence for aeroplanes with a night qualification, or a Commercial Pilot Licence for aeroplanes. On top of that, you need 50 hours of cross-country flight time as Pilot in Command — that's PIC — in either aeroplanes or helicopters. But here's the catch: at least 10 of those 50 hours must be in aeroplanes specifically. Then there's the medical side. If you hold a PPL(A), you have to meet the hearing requirements for Class 1 medical certification. And the contracting states — that's the national authorities — should consider requiring the PPL holder to pass the full physical, mental, and visual requirements of Class 1 as well. So it's a higher medical bar than a normal private pilot. Let's talk privileges. If you hold an IR(A), and you also hold the appropriate licence, and you're medically fit and certificated, then you're permitted to fly aeroplanes under IFR. There's a nice flexibility here: if you hold both an aeroplane licence and a helicopter licence, a single instrument rating can confer the privilege to fly both types under IFR. So you don't need two separate instrument ratings. Now, conditions. In states where flight in VMC at night is not permitted — VMC being Visual Meteorological Conditions — a PPL(A) or CPL(A) holder without an IR(A) may be granted a night rating under national rules. That night rating permits flight at night in VMC under IFR. Additionally, states may grant an IMC rating — that's Instrument Meteorological Conditions — under national rules. This permits flight outside controlled airspace, with possible exemptions for flight in some CTRs — Control Zones — in meteorological conditions less than VMC during daytime, to pilots who don't hold an IR(A). So these are national alternatives to a full instrument rating. Now let's move to the Instructor and Examiner Rating section. There are six categories of aeroplane instructor ratings. I'll list them: Flight Instructor – Aeroplane, that's FI(A). Type Rating Instructor – Aeroplane, TRI(A). Class Rating Instructor – Aeroplane, CRI(A). Instrument Rating Instructor – Aeroplane, IRI(A). Synthetic Flight Instructor – Aeroplane, SFI(A). And Multi-crew Co-operation Course Instructor – Aeroplane, MCCI(A). The prerequisites are straightforward: all instructors must hold at least the licence, rating, or qualification for which they're giving instruction, and they must be entitled to act as PIC — Pilot in Command — of the aeroplane during that instruction. Instructor ratings are valid for 3 years. Finally, the Flight Instructor Rating – Aeroplane, the FI(A). There are specific conditions for granting it. The minimum age is 18. And there's a supervision requirement: the instructor must be supervised until they've completed 100 hours of instruction and supervised 25 student solo flights. So that's the pathway to becoming a fully independent flight instructor.