Module lessons (2)
Rating privileges and prerequisites
An instrument-airplane rating adds operating privileges to a pilot certificate; it does not create a separate pilot certificate or remove the limitations of the certificate already held. Section 61.3 requires the appropriate instrument qualification to act as PIC under IFR or in weather conditions below the minimums prescribed for VFR. An instrument rating also does not authorize flight into icing conditions beyond the aircraft's approval, reduce aircraft operating limitations, or make the pilot proficient in unfamiliar avionics. Separate the pilot's qualification, the airplane's capability, and the operating conditions when deciding whether a flight can be conducted.
Section 61.65 identifies the requirements for an instrument rating. An airplane applicant generally holds at least a private pilot certificate with the appropriate airplane rating, or applies concurrently under the applicable provisions, and must meet the language requirement. The applicant must receive and log the required ground and flight training, obtain the required endorsements, and pass the applicable knowledge and practical tests. Reading a course is preparation for those steps. An online record of completing a lesson is not the logbook endorsement required from an authorized instructor.
Aeronautical experience under Part 61
For the ordinary instrument-airplane path, §61.65(d) requires 50 hours of cross-country time as PIC, including 10 hours in airplanes, and 40 hours of actual or simulated instrument time in the specified areas of operation. At least 15 hours must be received from an authorized instructor who holds an instrument-airplane rating. The instrument time includes three hours of instrument flight training in an appropriate airplane within two calendar months before the practical test. These categories overlap when a flight legitimately meets multiple requirements; they are not four independent blocks that must always be added together.
The required instrument cross-country training includes a flight of at least 250 NM along airways or ATC-directed routing, an instrument approach at each airport, and three different kinds of approaches using navigation systems. It is performed under IFR with an authorized instructor. A 250 NM sightseeing flight with a safety pilot does not automatically meet this requirement. Simulator, flight-training-device and aviation-training-device credit depends on the applicable rule and device authorization. A desktop simulator without the required approval can be useful practice but does not become loggable regulatory credit simply because it depicts the correct aircraft.
Maintaining IFR currency
Section 61.57(c) uses a six-calendar-month lookback for the instrument experience required to act as PIC under IFR or in weather below VFR minima. For airplanes, the required tasks include six instrument approaches, holding procedures and tasks, and intercepting and tracking courses through electronic navigation systems. The tasks must be performed and logged under the conditions permitted by the regulation. Merely flying on an IFR flight plan in visual conditions does not make the entire flight instrument time or make each visual approach count as an instrument approach for currency.
If the pilot no longer meets the recent-experience requirement, that pilot cannot continue acting as IFR PIC while treating the following months as a grace period for operating privileges. The rule allows a limited period to regain currency through the specified experience; once the pilot has failed to meet the requirement for more than six calendar months, an instrument proficiency check is required under §61.57(d). An IPC is broader than simply flying six approaches. Its required areas and tasks come from the applicable ACS and must be administered by an authorized person.
Logging, safety pilots and proficiency
Section 61.51 governs logging. Record the location and type of each instrument approach used to establish currency and the safety pilot's name when required. Under simulated instrument conditions in an airplane, §91.109 requires a qualified safety pilot and adequate outside visibility or an appropriate observer arrangement. Acting as PIC, manipulating the controls, logging PIC time, and logging instrument time are different determinations. Agree who will act as PIC before the flight; do not assume both pilots may log every minute identically. Medical and BasicMed applicability depend on the person's actual role.
Legal currency is a minimum record of recent experience. It does not measure how well a pilot can brief a changing approach, recognize a failed instrument, manage a missed approach with an autopilot disconnect, or fly with an unfamiliar navigator. A useful proficiency session includes those tasks and a debrief of deviations. A pilot who has six recent approaches but has not flown in cloud for a year may benefit from dual training before carrying passengers in low weather. The appropriate exercise is determined with the CFII and aircraft limitations, not by a course-completion percentage.
Currency audit before an IFR trip
A pilot plans an IFR trip on September 20. Their records show four instrument approaches in April and two in August, plus holding and electronic course tracking in August. All were completed under qualifying simulated instrument conditions and properly logged. April falls within the six calendar months preceding September, so the stated tasks satisfy the instrument recent-experience component for the September flight. Other PIC requirements, including flight review, medical eligibility and passenger currency, still need separate checks.
Change the departure to November 2 without adding training. April is now outside the relevant six-calendar-month lookback. Only the two August approaches remain, so the pilot cannot act as IFR PIC based on that record. The fact that the pilot flew legally in September does not make the qualification last another six months from September. Currency is recalculated for the intended operation using the dates on which the qualifying experience was actually performed.
The practical response is to arrange qualifying experience with the appropriate safety pilot or instructor, or an IPC when required or chosen. It is not to file IFR and complete the missing approaches while acting as an unqualified PIC. A qualified pilot may act as PIC during training if the arrangement meets the rules. The logbook must accurately reflect each person's role and the actual conditions.
Check your understanding
For the November trip, what is missing from the stated record, and can the pilot regain it while acting as IFR PIC?
Answer and explanation
- Four additional qualifying approaches are needed within the applicable lookback; the August holding and tracking remain within that window.
- The pilot may not act as IFR PIC until qualified again. Arrange a compliant training or safety-pilot flight, and assess whether the period of noncurrency requires an IPC.
- Instrument currency does not replace flight review, medical or passenger-currency requirements.