1. Pilot qualifications and aircraft airworthiness
Rating requirements, recent experience, IFR equipment and dispatch decisions
- Instrument rating requirements and pilot currency
- IFR aircraft equipment, inspections and operating limitations
Airplane
Instrument Rating ground school
For airplane pilots preparing for an instrument rating or reviewing IFR procedures. Study instruments, weather, flight planning, departures, en route operations, arrivals, approaches, and missed approaches.
17 lessons · 8 modules · 75 practice questions
Verify your email, then activate your seven-day trial. No credit card required.
Study and practice
Read the lessons and work through the calculations before answering the review questions. Practice mode provides explanations and source references; saved results identify the categories that need further review.
Study, untimed, and timed modes are included, along with a full-length written-test practice preset. Questions are original study material. They are not an official FAA question bank or a prediction of the questions on your examination.
These are written self-study courses. Video instruction, flight instruction, aircraft-specific checkout, FAA testing fees, and endorsements are not included. Course completion and practice scores do not issue an endorsement.
Read the sample lesson →SAMPLE PRACTICE QUESTION
Which record alone satisfies the instrument recent-experience tasks?
This public sample is not saved. Sign in and activate course access to save practice sessions and review your results.
COURSE SYLLABUS
Instrument Rating lessons
2. Instrument flying and aircraft systems
Control by reference to instruments, failure diagnosis and automation modes
- Attitude instrument flying and performance control
- Instrument failures, navigation sources and automation
3. IFR weather
Weather mechanisms, icing and convection, briefing products and arrival planning
- Clouds, icing, convection and turbulence
- IFR weather briefings and arrival forecasts
4. IFR planning and navigation
Alternates, fuel, en route charts, routing and navigation-system capability
- Alternate airports and IFR fuel planning
- IFR charts, route selection and navigation integrity
5. Clearances, departures and arrivals
ATC instructions, obstacle procedures, climb performance and terminal routing
- IFR clearances, releases and departure procedures
- Climb gradients, arrivals and altitude restrictions
6. Holding patterns
Hold geometry, entries, speed limits, timing, distance legs and fuel management
- Holding clearances, entries and protected airspace
- Holding timing, distance legs and fuel decisions
7. Instrument approaches
Approach charts, course reversals, conventional and RNAV minima, and missed approaches
- Approach charts and course reversals
- ILS, localizer and nonprecision approach minima
- RNAV minima, vertical guidance and missed approaches
8. Abnormal operations and IFR review
Lost communications, equipment failures, human factors and an integrated cross-country review
- Lost communications and IFR reporting
- Instrument emergencies and cross-country review
Start with the trial
Each account can activate one seven-day trial per course. The trial ends automatically. If you decide to enroll, purchase access from your account; your existing study records remain attached to it.