Module lessons (4)
Certificates, ratings, and endorsements
A private pilot certificate identifies privileges; its category and class ratings identify the aircraft in which those privileges may be exercised. Airplane is a category. Single-engine land is a class. A type rating is a separate qualification required for specified aircraft, including large aircraft and turbojet-powered airplanes, subject to the regulation’s exceptions. A tailwheel endorsement is not a class rating.
For private pilot airplane eligibility under Part 61, an applicant must be at least 17, meet the English-language requirement, receive the required training and endorsements, and pass the knowledge and practical tests. Section 61.109(a) sets the airplane single-engine minimum at 40 hours, including at least 20 hours of specified instruction and 10 hours of specified solo flight. These are minimum experience requirements, not a prediction of the time an individual will need.
The single-engine training includes 3 hours of cross-country instruction; 3 hours of night instruction including a cross-country flight over 100 NM total distance and 10 takeoffs and 10 full-stop landings, each landing involving a traffic pattern; 3 hours solely by reference to instruments; and 3 hours of practical-test preparation within the preceding 2 calendar months from the month of the test. The rule provides specific exceptions and crediting provisions.
The 10-hour solo requirement includes at least 5 hours of solo cross-country time, one 150-NM-total cross-country with full-stop landings at three points and one segment more than 50 NM straight-line between takeoff and landing, and three takeoffs and three full-stop landings with traffic patterns at an airport with an operating control tower. Record each requirement separately against § 61.109(a); 40 total hours without the required experience does not establish eligibility.
Section 61.3 generally requires the appropriate pilot certificate, government-issued photo identification, and applicable medical documentation in the pilot’s physical possession or readily accessible in the aircraft. A temporary airman certificate has its own expiration and termination conditions. Additional training and endorsements may be required for complex, high-performance, tailwheel, or specified pressurized airplanes under § 61.31.
Medical eligibility and fitness for flight
A third-class medical certificate is a common way to meet medical requirements for private-pilot operations. For those privileges, an examination taken before age 40 is generally valid through the end of the 60th calendar month after the examination month; an examination taken at age 40 or older generally supports those privileges through the end of the 24th calendar month. The pilot’s age on the examination date controls that distinction.
BasicMed is an alternative for eligible pilots and operations, not a replacement medical certificate. It involves medical history and eligibility requirements, a physician examination, an approved education course, and operating limits. Current § 61.113(i) permits qualifying aircraft authorized for no more than seven occupants and a maximum certificated takeoff weight no more than 12,500 pounds, with no more than six passengers; additional conditions include operations at or below 18,000 feet MSL, no more than 250 KIAS, and geographic and compensation restrictions. Check §§ 61.23, 61.113 and Part 68 together rather than applying an older 6,000-pound summary.
Medical paperwork does not establish fitness on a particular day. Section 61.53 addresses known medical deficiencies. IMSAFE organizes illness, medication, stress, alcohol, fatigue, and emotion; each item concerns actual impairment or eligibility. Sedating medications, hypoxia, sleep loss, and illness can impair judgment before the pilot recognizes a handling problem. Medication questions require the specific drug, dose, condition, and applicable FAA medical guidance.
Section 91.17 prohibits acting or attempting to act as a crewmember within 8 hours after consuming alcohol, while under its influence, while using a drug that affects faculties contrary to safety, or with an alcohol concentration of 0.04 or greater. Passing the eight-hour threshold does not override the other restrictions.
Flight review and passenger currency
A flight review normally includes at least 1 hour of ground training and 1 hour of flight training, with a satisfactory endorsement from an authorized instructor. To act as PIC, the review or a qualifying alternative must fall within the preceding 24 calendar months. Specified practical tests, proficiency checks, and completion of a phase of the FAA WINGS program can satisfy alternatives in § 61.56; merely attending a safety seminar does not establish completion of a WINGS phase.
Passenger currency is a separate requirement. Under § 61.57(a), the pilot must have made at least three takeoffs and three landings in the preceding 90 days as sole manipulator of the controls in the same category, class, and type when a type rating is required. For tailwheel airplanes, the landings must be to a full stop.
To carry passengers during the period from 1 hour after sunset to 1 hour before sunrise, the required three takeoffs and three full-stop landings must have occurred during that period within the preceding 90 days. The passenger-currency window is not the same definition used to log night time or determine when position lights are required. A current flight review does not restore passenger currency, and current passenger landings do not replace a flight review.
Calendar months versus days
- A flight review completed on March 12, 2026 normally supports PIC operations through March 31, 2028, unless another requirement or disqualification intervenes.
- Passenger currency uses a rolling 90-day interval. It does not run to the end of the third calendar month.
- A pilot who has a valid review but no qualifying landings in that interval cannot carry passengers under the ordinary currency rule.
Student solo privileges and private-pilot limitations
Student solo flight requires the applicable pre-solo knowledge test, flight training, demonstrated proficiency, and instructor endorsements. A solo endorsement is specific to the make and model and has a 90-day recency requirement. Solo cross-country privileges have additional training and endorsement requirements under § 61.93. Instructor limitations in the endorsement remain binding even when general VFR weather minima would permit flight.
A student pilot may not carry a passenger or operate for compensation or hire. Private pilots also face compensation and expense-sharing restrictions. Section 61.113 permits only specified exceptions to the general prohibition on acting as PIC for compensation or hire. Sharing permitted operating expenses does not authorize an air-transportation business: the pilot must pay at least the pro rata share of fuel, oil, airport expenses, and rental fees, and the operation must satisfy the other applicable legal requirements.
The knowledge test, course completion record, and practical-test endorsement serve different purposes. This course records study and quiz results. An authorized instructor must make any required training determination and issue the appropriate endorsement; a software score does not make that determination.
Worked review: one flight, three separate eligibility checks
A pilot’s certificate, medical eligibility, and recent experience answer different questions. The certificate establishes privileges and limitations. The applicable medical basis establishes medical eligibility for the operation, subject to the prohibition on flying with a medical deficiency. Recent-experience rules establish whether additional conditions have been met for acting as PIC or carrying passengers. A document can be valid while another requirement is unsatisfied.
Consider a private pilot who completed a flight review in January 2025 and now proposes a passenger flight in September 2026. The flight-review interval is measured in calendar months; that review remains within the preceding 24 calendar months. A logbook showing three takeoffs and landings in June does not establish September passenger currency without the actual dates. Passenger currency uses a rolling 90-day interval, so the calculation requires the flight date and the dates of the qualifying operations.
For a passenger flight during the period from one hour after sunset to one hour before sunrise, the qualifying takeoffs and landings must meet the nighttime provisions, including full-stop landings. They must also satisfy the applicable category, class, and type requirements. A landing made shortly after sunset may be loggable as night under one definition yet fall outside the passenger-currency window. Keep the lighting rule, logbook definition, and passenger-currency rule separate.
Private-pilot expense sharing is another independent limitation. The regulation restricts the expenses that can be shared and requires at least the pilot’s pro rata share. It is not authority to sell transportation merely because the pilot also contributes money. Resolve the actual purpose and legal basis of the operation rather than treating a cost-sharing calculation as the only question.
Check your understanding
A pilot has a current flight review and medical certificate, but all three recent night landings were touch-and-goes. Can those landings establish the required currency for carrying passengers two hours after sunset? Explain what remains to be checked.
Answer and explanation
- No. The night passenger-currency rule requires qualifying full-stop landings in the specified night window.
- Verify the rolling 90-day dates, category, class, and any required type rating; also verify who manipulated the controls.
- The medical certificate and flight review do not waive that requirement. Medical fitness, aircraft qualifications, and private-pilot operating limitations still require separate evaluation.