I agree that not nearly that much time is required - but are you saying that you got your PPL right at 40 hours and then got your instrument in exactly the minimum time prescribed too?
What is the current national average for PPL?
In your last sentence suggests that your 80 is a realistic mimimum.
That I highly doubt.

As far as whether to get an instrument rating or not....absolutely. By far one of the best *safety* related training opportunities available. There is NO DOUBT that it will make you a better pilot. Just be sure to use good decision making when deciding what levels of weather you decide to fly in after getting that rating.
But don't spend too much time building that *experience* base after getting your PPL. A lot of those experince building trips that you want to take could be worked into training opportunities for instrument training. That is extra time and extra cost. Also - it is my opinion to get out and away from your home field. Experience different airports, different ATC, different weather conditions (within reason) during your training and time building expeditions after your IR. the real time building is required after you IR and your next step in professional development - the Commercial certificate.

Instrument rating also requires 50 hours of x-country PIC. 50 of your 80 hours are cross country PIC? How is that possible?

Solo time from when you're doing your PPL counts (provided it's x-country). I just dug up my old log book to confirm. Turns out I had 91.6 hours flight time when I took my IFR checkride - plus 10 hours of FTD time. My memory must be getting hazy. When I took my PPL checkride I had 11.3 hours of solo x-country and a large percentage of my IFR training flights where done x-country (and dual received counts as PIC for that purpose, when you are qualified on the aircraft).

So, I apologize for suggesting 80 hours is realistic. But it probably could be done. At any rate, 91 hours is still a lot less than 200.

I'm not too concerned with FAR 61.65. I got all my tickets back when you had to fly more to get them. So you got your Instrument ticket with only 91 hours in an airplane? :eek:

Boy, the FAA really has lowered the bar. And yet they wonder why they have more accidents. They've been lowering the bar instead of keeping the standards up, or God forbid, raising them!

Do they still require 250 to get your Commercial, or have they dumbed that down too?

Hey, relax, if you do get your 91 hours and your IFR ticket, the Autopilot will take care of you!

Are airline pilots relying too much on automation? - TODAY.com

There is no reason to get personal. They have not "dumbed down" the rules or "lowered the bar" from 1978. It's the same rules. If you took more time to get your instrument ticket, more power to you, I'm sure all that extra training makes you a superior pilot. But it's worth checking your sources before telling people that an IFR ticket *requires* 200 hours. It does not, and it never did.

Who's getting personal?

Or do you write the FAR's?

So 200 was -never- required to get the instrument ticket?

Really?

Then why did I have to get 200 hours before I could get my instrument ticket, and 250 to get my commercial?

I guess my IP and all the other IP's were lying to me. :rolleyes:

I got my PPL with 41 hours and IFR with 90 hours, fwiw. Commercial is still 250 unless you do it 141, then it can be done with around 230. I never knew it was required to have 200 hours to get the IR, but it's been at least 20 years that has not been the case.

I flew with a couple less than 250 hour guys in the CRJ. :eek:

Well it was many, many beers ago, so I may be mistaken. I was 18 at the time, so my mind was not fully developed, and what was developed was focused on scoring with chicks at the beach!

I got my Multi-engine ticket in an Apache with 150's to build time on my way to my Instrument and Commercial, in 1978. I'm pretty sure I had to have 200 to take the IFR checkride.

I know I had to then take my Commercial in both a C172 and the old Apache, otherwise they said I'd only have a Single Engine Commercial! Maybe they were trying to gouge me, or maybe I was so bad they just made ME get to 200 before my Instrument check!

As soon as I turned 23 though, with about 3,000 hours, I took my ATP ride with the FAA, in good old N9166N, my nightly check run ride, the Turbo Commode. I scared the crap out of the FAA guy when I landed just behind a 747 on takeoff at JFK. He was sure we were going to be "Blown Away".

"Ahh relax, I got this."

I agree, start with the PP license & go from there. Don't get ahead of yourself, all in good time.