Completing the CBM IR: My experience

Welcome to my blog. I am a private pilot living and working in London. I co-own a Piper Arrow (G-BBFD) having gained my PPL in 2009; IR (r) in 2011; night rating in 2013 and then the CBM IR (competence based IR) in 2015. Total hours around 330 as August 2015. With a young family my flying is usually limited to weekends every few weeks and then biased towards flights further afield or abroad. The purpose of this blog is to keep a record of some of my trips to reflect back on. If others find the blog of benefit, so much the better

 

Completing the CBM IR: My experience

An instrument rating is something that I have always wanted as a private pilot. I liked the idea of learning the skills – in theory at least – to be a safer pilot who was legally qualified to fly approaches to published minima worldwide in a controlled environment

The IR (restricted) was/is a fantastic rating that allowed for flight in cloud and then approaches within the UK but importantly (for myself at least) does not allow for approaches or flight in cloud outside of the UK and does not allow flight in class A airspace (or airways)

The original IR was seen by many as overly onerous (elitist by many) especially when compared with the American FAA IR. Within the UK the privileges afforded by the IR (restricted) overlaid with the relatively low hurdle for attaining the rating meant that historically only few pilots went for the IR outside of the professional world

The CBM IR (competency based instrument rating) is relatively new and – at least for myself, a pilot who flies for fun as opposed to flying professionally – has made the IR rating more attainable

The CBM IR takes into account previous qualifications/experience (hours from the IR (r) training for example) and then has reduced the theory syllabus for the 7 TK exams; reduced the classroom based training hours required as well as reducing the number of hours of ATO instruction

The final flight test must be flown with a CAA approved Instrument Rating Examiner and then the privileges of the CMB IR rating are the full ICAO IR. Once qualified you can fly approaches to published minima anywhere in the world

A number of steps are required to attaining the EASA CBM IR

From the practical/flying side a pilot needs to have 50 hours of cross country time logged as pilot in command. A minimum 40 hours of instrument training and experience are also required

At least 25 hours must be under instruction by a suitably qualified instructor and at least 10 hours must be conducted by an ATO (who sign you off as ready to take the skills test)

In addition there are 7 theoretical exams that need to be passed before being able to take the skills test with a CAA examiner

In order to take the 7 TK exams one needs to be signed up with an approved training school that in turn require 80 hours of study (distance learning) with 8 of these hours based in the classroom

The school in turn set progress tests that you complete as you go (often online) before the school sign you off such that you can take the CAA TK exams

The CAA TK exams can be sat at various approved centers. I sat mine at Gatwick where the exams took place in the 1^st and 3^rd week of every month

You need to sign up with the CAA in order to sit these exams and the CAA in turn needs to see that you are registered at an approved school, completed the required hours and classroom based training

My experience

Selecting a training school for the 7 TK exams

A number of these schools exist who in turn have very different approaches to the TK learning and at varying costs. I looked at the three below but there are clearly many more schools out there

GTS (Ground Training Services) based in Bournemouth

My understanding is that they are excellent for those who realty like to understand the TK – taught by former RAF aircrew. My sense is that they are slightly more focused on really understanding the TK as opposed to just helping you get through the exams. Obviously this will divide opinion.

CATS

My understanding is that CATS have a fantastic i-Pad friendly training product. A number of the career pilots that I meet at Gatwick used CATS and all had very positive feedback. The product is more expensive but the feedback has only been good. The CATS exam bank also scored highly in feedback

Caledonian pilot training

This is the school that I went with. For £495 you are sent a book that covers the learning objectives for the 7 exams. You take a number of progress tests on line as you go. Once you have finished the progress tests and completed the 8 hours of classroom based training (included in the £495) you can apply to sit the 7 TK exams with the CAA

Exam question banks

The Caledonian pilot training progress tests were very poor in preparing for the real exams. The question bank of choice is Aviation Exam. This can be downloaded onto the i-pad and you then pay for a subscription for the exams. No question about it – the best £50-£100 one will spend during the TK exam process

Aviation exam has essentially every question or as damn near it as possible in the QB. You can use AE to help study – by working through an exam (say instrumentation) or drill down to a section within that exam or to sit a mock test (that covers a mix of questions over the subject)

AE also provides fantastic comments and feedback on why an answer might be a-b-c or d. and so proves an excellent learning tool

The exam questions are almost – if not – identical to those in AE. You need to ensure that the entire syllabus has been downloaded and then one needs to work very thoroughly through this but it will pay handsome rewards (at least in terms of ensuring you pass the exams)

Other QB exist. ATPL is one. Bristol QB another etc. I paid for ATPL as well to ensure that I had all bases covered – and my own experience was that Aviation exam was by far the best. Absolutely essential. If I had just relied on reading the training book that I was sent and the progress tests there is no question that I would have failed all the exams

Speaking with many students at Gatwick (90pc plus the professional route) all were using the QB’s and most were using multiple QB’s

It is another debate about learning to pass as opposed to learning the subject. I would say that AE  can be used very productively as a learning tool – as you read the comments on why you got a question wrong and in turn learn the learning objectives set out

The 7 TK exams

Air law. Meteorology. IFR communication. Radio Navigation. Human Performance. Instrumentation. Flight planning.

It was a real hassle booking the exam slot at Gatwick with the CAA although the process has by all accounts got better as more candidates passed through the CBM IR door

The real cost – for myself at least – was the time to get away from work to take the train to the test center at Gatwick midweek. The exams themselves are roughly £50 each

I sat 3 exams one week, 3 exams another week and then a final exam another week all spread over a few months. The exams can be sat in the morning, midday and then during an afternoon slot so in theory these can be can be done over a relatively short period of time. In practice however, especially for someone working full time the exams are spread out over a longer period of time

Without the QB’s or Aviation Exam the exams would have been impossible (with the learning material that I at least had). With Aviation Exam and very thorough study of it the exams are a walk in the park. I had both experiences. No QB and no aviation exam and a fail and then overload on aviation exam and near 100pc scores.

Potential landmine with Instrumentation and Human Performance (only 12 questions each) with the possibility of a certain aspect being hammered home

Numerous people complained about the exam questions not fully reflecting the learning objectives of the CBM IR – too many questions on subjects outside the learning objectives, or questions say on the Boeing 737 flight management systems, and by all accounts people had their papers adjusted accordingly after such referrals from a fail to a pass on such complaints

My understanding is that the questions being asked are still being filtered and at least moving to where it is intended but still without hiccup

Deciding on an ATO for the practical flying instruction

I decided to train for the EASA PPL/IR with Jim Thorpe at Rate One Aviation

Jim Thorpe had been instrumental in helping to bring about the CBM IR and I liked the approach that he laid out and the feedback that I had heard about him and the experiences from those who had used him and his organization

Rate One are based at Gloucester and I used the TB20 (G-VPPL) that Rate One had fully equipped for the IR and IFR flight/test profiles

The advantages – as I saw it – with Jim and Rate One were numerous

Gloucester has a number of approaches. ILS. NDB. RNAV. Time was therefore not wasted flying from an airfield without the approaches to one that had them. Equally, when we flew to other airfields for training on our return to Gloucester I could always do a hold and then a further approach

With Rate One based at Gloucester it was easy to book training approaches and beacon slots. Preference was given to local based clubs it seemed and this was never an issue for myself

Then the plane that Rate One recommend for the training, a TB20 G-VPPL, has been configured especially for the skill test

Jim is also an instrument instructor who can examine for revalidation and in turn knows a few of the examiners and processes. I liked his methodical approach which I found to be professional and personal

Most of all I came to like Jim for who he was/is within the PPL/IR community. My experience was of someone with huge enthusiasm and also a very large personal investment. Jim went out of his way to help me with my training in more ways than one

The downside to Rate One – at least for myself – was that living in West London I would travel after work Friday to Gloucester in order to stay overnight before flying Saturday and then again staying overnight and flying Sunday before driving home late Sunday evening

This worked for a few weeks then became very difficult to manage at home so I would go Friday night and return Saturday night so that I could at least spend Sunday with my family. Downside here was that the process is dragged out

Typical training profile and test routes

A typical day would involve no more than two flights arriving at the airfield just after 8am and leaving late afternoon. Flying time over the day would rarely be more than 3hours. Crucially every flight was briefed extensively prior and after departure

Typical routes might be Gloucester to Cardiff or Gloucester to Coventry

I would book a beacon slot at both the destination airfield and then back at Gloucester and then work backwards for the filing of the IFR flight plan to arrive at an EOBT (estimated off block time)

I would then work back to arrive at a time that I needed to leave the clubhouse to walk to the plane and get set up. Sounds trivial but took a reasonable amount of time, especially early on

A flight to Cardiff might be departing Gloucester initially tracking the GST NDB to join the airway (L9) at Badim before routing along the airway tracking the BCN VOR and then leaving the airway to either enter the hold at Cardiff (CDF) or for a RV ILS

Likewise a flight to Coventry might be departing Gloucester initially tracking the GST NDB routing to the DTY VOR before either picking up the DTY radial before talking to London control, entering class A airspace before routing to enter the hold at Coventry (CT) or for a RV ILS

In theory the above flight profile should be relatively straight forward – but rarely was – especially at my level and experience of flying and the work load very quickly built up

The brief might be to fly to Coventry as above – enter the hold – fly the alternative procedure for the ILS, missed approach, back for a RV ILS, missed approach and then off to do general handling, limited panel, unusual attitudes before heading back to Gloucester for a few holds and then a non-precision approach to land. In every flight something new would spring up. Expecting RV but having to enter the hold, or the runway expected being changed or the controller who can offer RV not being available and having to fly an alternate procedure

I found the step up in terms of training from the instrument rating restricted to be very large. Especially when introducing new equipment like a HSI, RMI, Glass panel or even the use of an autopilot for sections of the flight that I had not used before. And then coming from an airfield with a radio service to one with a tower introduces further challenges with the RT. At the end of the flight my head was always spinning

Even with the best intention of doing more in a day I found the limit to be around 3hours a day of flying with all the briefs. I needed the time away to go and think through the briefs and the various aspects of the flight in order to process what had just happened

Other test routes might include Oxford or Bristol. The examiner has the right to say where you go on the test

The Skills Test

In my case I was given the option of where I would like to go and I decided on Coventry where I got a partial pass with an unstable ILS (within limits) but then cocked up part of the missed approach. The result was fair but left me feeling very disappointed. The examiner recommended (but did not mandate) a further hour of ILS training and I booked in a further full days training with Jim the following weekend and then re sat the ILS section of the skills test the following week having taken another afternoon off work

Unfortunately the variable winds meant that I couldn’t take the ILS at Gloucester, Coventry had an approach ban in place and we had to beg to let Cardiff accommodate. Even here there was uncertainty over the runway in use given the very variable winds and Cardiff wanted to mandate a landing for some reason – which we couldn’t accept as the missed approach was needed for my re-sit. The day was just another reminder of how things rarely ever turn out as planned, even with the best intentions

Mercifully once the ILS and MA had been completed the examiner said to relax, that I had passed, before he flew the plane back. It is hard to explain the enormous sense of relief that I had and in turn gratitude for Jim and the other Rate One instructors who had helped me with my training to achieve this goal. No question, it was a torturous experience at times for us both but one I am extremely pleased that I saw through

People often ask about cost

The raw cost for myself was in the region of £13-14k from start to finish

I found the true cost however was the very serious commitment in time that was needed to pursue the goal of attaining the IR

Even with the reduced syllabus I found it very hard to get seven afternoons off work to travel to Gatwick for the TK exams. Not to mention the afternoon needed for the audiogram (to add to your the medical that I hadn’t known about)

The time away from a young family travelling to Gloucester every weekend became almost unbearable and it is certainly true that at the end of the training I wasn’t enjoying the experience

Broadly I paid around £500 for the training books. A further £75 odd for Aviation Exam. A further £500 for the TK test exams once the failed exams were thrown in. £50 odd for the audiogram. At least £300 on the Gatwick express. About £1300 for the skills test and retake fee. Then about £11k for the instrument training at Rate One (including the use of their plane, approach fees and instructor time)

Not included are the accommodation costs for the nights that I stayed in Gloucester. My training was spread over 11 days and I was fortunate enough to stay with an aunt during this time but one could expect further costs here

Start to finish

I ordered the books from Caledonian mid-Oct 2014 and fully passed the skills test mid-Aug 2015 having started the IR training with Rate One during the last week of June 2015

I came to Rate One with approximately 300 hours and then the instrument training time with Rate One was 27hours spread over 11 days of training

The future

People always comment that the initial PPL is a license to learn. And my overriding sense is likewise the instrument rating. The initial training are great within their limited set up. But what about flying from a non-controlled radio operated airfield like White Waltham right next to the London TMA with a low base of airspace on a longer IFR flight abroad

I find myself surfing the various forums in the hope to learn from other pilots experiences and this blog will hopefully record my learning experiences as I go

I believe that I was within the first batch of pilots to go through the CBM IR route for the EASA PPL/IR. The above was my experience and I hope it might be of some small help to others who are similarly interested in it