Philippine Civil Aviation Regulations for Instrument Flight
What this domain tests
The regulatory wrapper around IFR flight in the Philippines: CAAP licensing and rating requirements, aircraft equipment and inspection status, documents, and the operating rules that govern alternates and IFR dispatch.
The framework
CAAP administers the Philippine Civil Aviation Regulations (PCAR), which are built on the ICAO Annexes: Part 2 for personnel licensing, Part 91 for general operating rules, and Parts 121/135 for air transport operators. The AIP Philippines, NOTAM and AIC are the operational publications and have regulatory force once issued - a NOTAM closing a navaid or an approach changes what you may legally plan.
Licensing and equipment
An instrument rating is issued against the PCAR Part 2 experience requirements, which follow ICAO Annex 1 in requiring instrument time (part of it with an authorised instructor) and cross-country command time; confirm the current hour figures in the regulation itself, they are amended. Currency normally requires recent instrument experience, and a Class 1 medical plus English language proficiency for IFR. The aircraft side is equally examinable: altimeter and static system tests, transponder tests, pitot heat, gyroscopic power sources, and the MEL for the flight.
Worked example
Your destination forecast at ETA ±1 hour gives ceiling 1,500 ft and visibility 6 km, and the ILS is NOTAM unserviceable. Is a destination alternate required? The no-alternate rule needs a usable approach plus ceiling ≥ 2,000 ft or circling minima, whichever is higher, and visibility ≥ 5 km. The ceiling is below 2,000 ft and the precision approach is unavailable, so a destination alternate must be filed and fuel carried to reach it.
Traps
Treating the AIP as advisory rather than regulatory; assuming a rating or medical is valid because you have not been asked for it; planning an approach that a current NOTAM has withdrawn; ignoring MEL restrictions on an IFR flight.