I’m doing some preliminary research into getting my IFR rating in Toronto. My rough plan is to see if I can start up in the spring, and get ‘er done before the end of the summer.
My biggest concern is about staying current. I dug up the CARs and section 401.05(3) spells it out for you:
(3) No holder of an instrument rating shall exercise the privileges referred to in Section 401.47 unless the holder has
(a) within the 12 months preceding the flight, successfully completed an instrument rating flight test in an aircraft or in a Level B, C or D simulator of the same group as the aircraft;
(b) within the six months preceding the flight, acquired six hours of instrument time and completed six instrument approaches to the minima specified in the Canada Air Pilot in an aircraft, in actual or simulated instrument meteorological conditions, or in a Level B, C or D simulator of the same category as the aircraft or in a flight training device under the supervision of a person who holds the qualifications referred to in subsection 425.21(9) of the personnel licensing standards;
(c) within the six months preceding the flight, acquired six hours of instrument time and completed six instrument approaches to the minima specified in the Canada Air Pilot in an aircraft, in actual or simulated instrument meteorological conditions, while acting as a flight instructor conducting training in respect of the endorsement of a flight crew licence or permit with an instrument rating; or
(d) successfully completed, for an aircraft, a pilot proficiency check whose validity period has not expired and which included the instrument procedures portion of
(i) Schedule I to Standard 624 – Private Operator Passenger Transportation of the General Operating and Flight Rules Standards, in respect of aircraft operated under Subpart 4 of Part VI…
So, correct me if I’m wrong, but this means that after I get my IFR rating, I will have to log 6 hours of IFR time (in a simulator or airplane) with 6 approaches, every 6 months? (the 6-6-6 rule). Then every 2 years, I will have to do a check ride to renew the rating in an actual airplane.
Keeping current in a simulator will be out of the question. The Transport Canada Simulator Search doesn’t yield any C172 simulators. So the only option would be to spend 6 hours in an actual aircraft to stay current.
Does anyone have any recommendations for a school/instructor to get my IFR Rating? I’ll share any research I come up with in the next few weeks with you.
Update: Doug says that the easiest way to stay current is to get the PPC ride done once a year (item d) in the CARs listed above.
You sure about that sim-search result? The sim at CYOO was configurable to several aircraft variants including multi…C172 would be a stalwart standard for the sim, I’m presuming.
I know for sure it was TC certified as I saw plenty of IFR students using it for logged training and I’m presuming it’s also valid for currency as a result.
Here’s the details from the CFA website: (http://www.canadianflightacademy.ca/elite.php)
“This Elite Simulator is Transport Canada Approved. Each licence or rating can have a portion of the instrument training completed on this approved simulator. Our simulator has approval for several single engine aircraft, two multi-engine aircraft and a Beech King Air. Reduce you training cost and time.”
Surely if Oshawa has one Toronto Airways at Buttonville is equally as well equipped.
Mark,
The key word there is “portion” of your training.
The Sims at Toronto Airways and CFA are actually Flight Training Devices, not Flight Training Simulators. Big difference in the eyes of Transport Canada.
In order to keep your IFR rating current you need to have 6 hours in a Flight Training Simulator (of level B, C, or D). However, you can do a portion if your initial IFR rating in a Flight Training Device.
I’d be interested to find out if they are adequate for currency purposes, though. I could have swore I remember people talking about the SIM for currency related purposes, but it was admittedly a long while ago that I was a student.
I’m left wondering if the “currency adequate” sims that are equipped for the C172 configuration would be that much less expensive than the real thing at that point anyways. Even the Elite sim was something like $65/Hr back then, so I can’t figure that the presumably higher-end sim that satisfies the currency requirements is going to constitute much of a saving?