Basic Instrument Rating (BIR) - Rules published

No mention of any credit for the UK IR(R) then.

This is good! Thank you all!!

Nice .. Hope that you can be allowed to use your own aeroplane even if it flies on condition,

Hi Jannes, am I correct that the EASA BIR won't be available until Sept 21 or am I misunderstanding?

Thanks for finalising this, although I suppose we are still waiting for the associated GM! I hope all the efforts put in by the individuals that have contributed their time to defining this new rating, will be rewarded by a broader acceptance and adoption in the private pilot community, than the EIR.

What is not quite clear to me, is the Theoretical Knowledge required. FCL.835 just refers to FCL.615 (b). Jannes, are you able to elaborate?

Dear Axel-Stéphane,
the tables for CPL/ATPL/IR Learning Objectives (AMC1 FCL.310; FCL.515(b); FCL.615(b)) are in the process of being updated and will show another column to indicate the content of the BIR theoretical knowledge, reflecting of course the simplified syllabus, compared to the full IR syllabus. This new column will also include information on the BIR module in which a particular Learning Objective will need to be included.
We hope this helps.

Best regards
Christian

Good job Christian, thank you :)

hello i have a question
With the basic instrument rating is it allowed for pilots who can fly daytime only to get the BIR ? even if its just to fly ifr during the day??
Thanks

Yes, Rui. As with the IR, there is no need to hold a Night Rating in order to be able to exercise BIR privileges by day.

Having been a member of RMT.0677 which developed the BIR, I do have concerns at the way it has been adopted under FCL.835. We agreed that training for the BIR should be available at a DTO and that Instructor and Examiner requirements should be no more onerous than have applied to the UK's IR(R) for over 40 years, with the only additional requirement being that the instructor must also hold at least a BIR. However, as adopted in FCL.835, training has to be at an ATO (which will undoubtedly be more expensive) and instructor/examiner requirements are the same as for the IR. In my opinion this will greatly reduce availability of BIR training in many MS and will severely hinder wider adoption of the BIR. Nevertheless, the future will tell - although IAOPA Europe will continue to press for BIR training to be available at DTOs.

Any news on this?

The AMC and GM for the BIR are published formally here: https://www.easa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/dfu/amc_gm_to_part-fcl_-…

I will check on the timeline to update the Easy Access Rules and will update here as soon as possible.

Am I correct in thinking that the BIR theoretical detailed knowledge syllabus and exams will now be the same as the IR & CB-IR(A)?
Also excuse my stupidity, but what is an LO

LO=Learning Objective

Thanks, I guessed it was something like that but it wasn’t clarified in the subject document and to trawl the the glossary document is more than tedious.

You also need to review the AMC/GM for Part-ARA, which provides detail of the examination requirements:
https://www.easa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/dfu/amc_gm_to_part-ara_-…

According to feedback we've been getting, ATOs aren't interested in the BIR, whereas DTOs certainly are. Which we told EASA would be the case, but they had to know better......

I talked to the nice people at Padpilot and they are definitely not interested in producing any of their interactive manuals for the BIR as they caught a crab producing manuals for the CBIR.

I've also written a book series for the CB-IR (and the BIR). They can be found on Apple Books (https://apple.co/3kIvqII) and they will later be available on Kindle and in print.

I have a couple of questions that I believe I know the answer to, but I am curious whether I may have missed something.

Can anyone comment on whether the BIR is ICAO compliant? Will a BIR certified pilot be allowed to exercise his/her privileges outside EASA member states.

Is there a way to convert a BIR to CB-IR down the road?

Hi Axel, like the EIR the BIR will not be ICAO compliant. Therefore you may only use your privileges within the EASA airpace. Yet of course you can convert your BIR to a CB-IR once you have flown 50 hours under an IFR flight plan (and after issuance of your rating, no instruction time) This time counts from offblock to onblock if you have filed IFR. After that you will need to do a skill test in order to "upgrade" to a CB-IR or if you took ATPL theory or a HPA (high performance airplane) for an IR

Alternatively you may conduct 10 hours of instruction at an ATO in order to convert to the CB-IR. Be aware of the fact, that the ATO needs to assess your knowledge and skills as well (also for the BIR!) and they do not want you to get away with an affordable BIR....

This is the biggest drawback of the new rating as it stills involves a (complex) ATO, which will unnececarilly lift up the price. Only the theory sold by an ATO (like CATS) together with the 8 hrs of classroom involves hefty fees. As we know, basically everyone learns with Aviationexam paying less than 50 € for the real learning. CATS is just for the "stamp".

Unfortunatelly EASA did not have the balls to implement BIR training at a DTO or the chance for a freelance FI to endorse you for taking the written exam. Also the currency requirement as again far away from the new FAA ruling of letting you stay current in a simulator without an instructor. We will probably need to wait many more years and maybe after that there might also be a few RNAV approaches in EASA land, while in FAA land there are more than 5000 by now. So sad

I've done a quick comparison of BIR and CB-IR on my website: https://www.cb-ir.net/cb-ir-or-bir/

Hi Axel,

"Hi Michael. Could you provide a precise reference...."

Yes, please take note of the attached document. My arorementioned answers can be found at ammendmend [55] - refering to Appendix 6, Chapter Aa.

Paragraph 9: 10 hour at ATO rule
Paragraph 10: 50 hour of experiene rule

CELEX_32020R0359_EN_TXT.pdf741.7 KB

Noting that the latest version of the Easy Access Rules for Aircrew was actually updated in August, not June and no-one publicised the fact - and then the AMC / GM for the BIR appeared in November, I asked EASA a couple of questions:

1. Will EASA please let members of the Advisory Boards and Committees know immediately whenever the Easy Access Rules are updated. Answer was 'We will come up with a better system'.

2. When will the AMC / GM for the BIR be included in the updated EARforA? Answer was 'Soon' - so I asked 'Weeks, months....years?' Answer was 'I would hope weeks rather than months'....

The abject failure to allow DTOs to provide BIR training will undoubtedly limit appeal of the rating!

Hi Nick, thanks for the feedback. For the Advisory Bodies, I will take that back to my colleagues. The EASA website now enables the opportunity to sign up to get all updates like this. We are also going to start producing a Monthly Summary Newsletter for each of the different domains because we know that sometimes the continual notification emails can be annoying so you will always be able to go to one GA news page for all the latest info.

For the AMC/ GM, it will be included in the next update and the goals is weeks and not months. Hope that helps :)

Thanks
John F

For the Easy Access Rules there is even a RSS feed available:
https://www.easa.europa.eu/document-library/easy-access-rules
Button 'RSS' on the top right hand side. Put the address behind in your favorites and your browser notifies you about each update.

Hello,
Not directly related to BIR, but a little bit...

I have consulted the NPA-2020-02, mentioning the EASA desire to improve GA access to IFR flying.
The document mentioned the Opinion paper would be released in Q3-2020.

I couldn't find any info on this, so I suppose this has been delayed?
Is there a target date?

I clearly see the BIR as a part of this desire, but what are the next steps regarding the improvements of Part-NCO? SERA?

Thank you,
Thomas

See https://www.easa.europa.eu/document-library/agency-decisions/ed-decisio…
However, until the BIR is available at DTOs, I doubt whether it will appeal to many.

General aviation in Germany just took another heavy hit. In total contradiction of what EASA wants to achieve, the IFR minimums at local airports have beed raised due to a completely absurd rule. One needs to know, that DWD (German meteorological service) holds a monopoly in Germany. Now they deemed the airport operators to have a DWD-certified person at the field who´s responsibility is to check the QNH (!!!). No, it is not enough to have the QNH broadcasted automatically (like what every sane authority approves), it is also not enough to have the notorious "Flugleiter" to check on the QNH. By the way the "Flugleiter" is another weird and redicolous German ruling, forcing the airport operator to have a costly person at the field at all times of operation. Well, things go even more insane as that the person needs to be "certified" in order to read the QNH correctly (!!!). Of course airport operators are not willing to pay overpriced fees to the DWD for certification. After all the result is that many minimums have just been raised in order to comply with these incomprehensible new rules. If one now applies the added 200 ft to the minimum according to the BIR, it might likely be that the pilot ends up with a higher minumum for the "IFR-approach" than the published pattern altitude. So I may say, that the BIR is useless in Germany. Nothing to say against EASA as they are not responsible for this bulls... but let me say I wish we had the same system as the USA. One authority for all states with common rules. Again this is so sad.

Hello, is there already somewhere a syllabus available for the theoretical knowledge exams regarding BIR ?

Morning.
Will it be possible to operate a G registered aircraft in IMC into Rotterdam using the EASA Part FCL IR(R) ? I have a G Reg aircraft and will hold both the EASA Part FCL and UK Part FCL

I tried to find an ATO in Germany to start my BIR training. There seems to be not a single one with a certified BIR theory course…

We are preparing in Spain but I found this at distance:
https://orbit-groundschool.nl/en/basic-instrument-rating-bir/

Also confusion on whether you can do CBIR theory and then sit BIR using this ? Would be good for some direction from EASA on where the core member sates are with regards implementation and if EASA are working with them to issue syllabus...question banks etc

Also be good to know if any discussions ongoing regarding agreements between CAA and EASA for IR[R] and BIR arrangements....As I own G Reg but fly PH also....Currently 2 x licences...2 x medicals...2 x SEP refresh...BIR and IR[R] required....And cant fly between home & work in either G or PH reg under IFR...as IR[R] not EASA and BIR not CAA... Aware UK at fault with Brexit but appears us GA pilots being hit....even when voted remain (o:

The BIR cannot be used in UK airspace, unfortunately...