Waterford Aero Club are now offering the EASA Basic Instrument Rating (BIR). Introduced by EASA as an alternative to the instrument rating targeted at recreational pilots looking to further enhance their skills without having to sit all seven written exams previously required to gain an EASA IR (the BIR only has three exams and they’re valid for life with no expiry). The rating grants pretty much the same privileges as the IR other than you have to add 200 feet to the approach minimums and it’s only valid in EASA airspace. It can also be upgraded to an IR without any further written exams after gaining 50 hours of IFR experience.
The next BIR course is scheduled to start in June with a ground briefing day for Module 1 on June 29th. If you’d like to book onto the training day (€150) just email info@waterfordaeroclub.com . Similar to their PPL training, the course is just pay-as-you-go and you can fly as frequently or infrequently as you wish – there is no time pressure to complete the full course. More details are available at: https://waterfordaeroclub.com/bir/
