Pilot September 2017

Beyond the PPL | CB Instrument Rating

44 | Pilot September 2017 http://www.pilotweb.aero

EASA CB-IR Part 3

After months of intense training, Stephen finally takes the

Competency Based - Instrument Rating Skill Test

T

ests, I have to confess, are not
my thing. Especially if they
involve any mechanical element,
in which case they are really not
my thing. In decades past I
managed to fail my driving test three
times, and I’m still not quite certain how I
actually completed my PPL back in the
nineties. Yet here I am, on a beautiful
spring evening, flying solo back to Bristol
in my group-owned Cessna 182, about to

face what is arguably the toughest flying

test in the world. After ten challenging

months and forty-nine hours of training, I

will finally take the Instrument Rating test

tomorrow morning. My only hope is that it

doesn’t turn out to be a re-run of the

driving version all those years before.

A couple of vectors from Bristol ATC

took me slap over the magnificent Clifton

Suspension Bridge and a few minutes later

I was landing on the now familiar Runway

09, after flying an uncharacteristically

almost perfect ILS in gin-clear conditions

and nil wind. I’d recently been having real

difficulties flying decent precision

approaches, so either this was a lucky

one-off (likely, given the absence of any

weather) or an indication that I’d finally

nailed the darn things. Or maybe I just

flew better without an instructor on board

witnessing my every mistake−not to

mention an examiner. Tomorrow I’d

find out.

I taxied in to the light aircraft parking

area where my instructor Mark Bills was

waiting for me. Most of my instrument

training had taken place at Gloucester

under the auspices of Rate One Aviation,

but Mark lives close to Bristol and it made

more sense to complete the final lap there.

Rate One was still responsible for my

overall training while the nice folks at the

Bristol and Wessex Aeroplane Club were

able to keep us flush with fuel, facilities

and excellent food in their café.

The test was scheduled for 0900 the next

morning. My examiner, John Dale, would

be flying over from Hawarden, weather

permitting, and we’d kick off from there.

John and I had already had a brief phone

conversation earlier about the expected

conditions and they seemed within

acceptable limits. Nothing genuinely nasty

was coming our way. The winds were

expected to be on the gusty side but not

horrendous, and the freezing levels were

Words Stephen Walker Photos Gabrielle Levene

Test route drawn up on the airways chart