Introduction

An excellent start to gaining an instrument rating is a Night VFR endorsement. This involves limited instrument training and serves to increase aircraft utility by allowing flight after dark, provided you remain in visual contact with the ground and can land in VMC (Visual Meteorological Conditions). A Command Instrument Rating combined with your licence further increases the utility of a light aircraft. No longer are you unable to fly when the weather is less than ideal, or stopped by night. You are able to fly virtually anywhere solely by reference to instruments. It also saves valuable time by allowing transition through controlled airspace. It is a virtual necessity with a commercial licence, being demanded by most employers. The Instrument Rating is available in several variations.

At Bini Advanced Flight Training, we offer the following:

- The Single-engine Command Instrument Rating (SE/CIR)
- The Multi-engine Command Instrument Rating (ME/CIR)

The above Instrument Ratings are available with endorsements for the NDB, VOR, LLZ and ILS approaches. With the correct training and endorsement it also allows the use of GPS enroute, GNSS NPA and GNSS Arrival Approaches. Bini Advanced Flight Training are instrument rating specialists. We offer instructors and aircraft totally dedicated to instrument training.


Training - Practical

Due to the diversity of Instrument Ratings and Navigation Aids that can be endorsed on them, it is impossible to specifically the training requirements that will apply to anyone until we know their particular requirements. Nonetheless, there are some minimum requirements laid down by CASA that an applicant for an Instrument Rating must meet before sitting their test. They are:

- 50 hours cross country flight time as Pilot-in-Command.
- 40 hours instrument time.
- 20 hours cross country instrument time.
- 10 hours dual instrument flight instruction time.
- 10 hours night flight if wishing to conduct night IFR operations.

With most people, by the time they are ready to sit their Command Instrument Rating Test, these minima are not normally a restriction. The primary challenge is to be at the standard necessary to pass the test.

The ME/CIR is generally accepted as being one of the toughest qualification to achieve in Aviation and the amount of training an individual requires varies considerably dependent upon an applicant¹s experience and ability.

Of the items listed above, most people will start their Instrument Rating training with no cross country instrument time and so it could be considered that the theoretical minimum flying training would be 20 hours training in an aircraft (with approximately 20 hours in a flight simulator).