Instrument rating · ACS IR.VIII.A
Checking Instruments and Equipment
The flight isn’t over at shutdown. This lesson covers the postflight check and writing up anything that needs attention.
Why this one matters
An instrument that flickered on the approach today is an instrument that may fail in cloud for the next pilot. The postflight write-up is how one pilot’s warning reaches the next. Skipping it to save five minutes passes the risk on.
Can’t miss
- •After an IFR flight, go through every flight instrument and every nav and comm system, using the POH/AFM as the list, and compare each with how it behaved in flight; note anything that misbehaved, even briefly. Then document it. The walk-around supplements this; it doesn't replace it.(Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B); Your airplane's POH/AFM)
- •Write discrepancies in the operator's squawk system, where maintenance and the next pilot will see them. The owner or operator keeps the airplane airworthy and has discrepancies fixed (91.403, 91.405); maintenance makes the maintenance-record entries; you, as PIC, decide whether it's airworthy for your next flight (91.7).(14 CFR 91.403(a), 91.405, 91.7(b))
- •Inoperative equipment is repaired or formally deferred before the next flight. Placarding alone never defers anything. With an approved MEL and its letter of authorization, follow the MEL. Without one, 91.213(d): not required by the type certificate, the equipment list or KOEL, 91.205 or another rule, or an AD; then removed or deactivated with a maintenance-record entry, placarded "Inoperative", and judged no hazard. Deferred items are repaired at the next required inspection (91.405(c)).(14 CFR 91.213; 91.405(c))
- •VOR check: for IFR use, within the preceding 30 days (±4° VOT or ground checkpoint, ±6° airborne, 4° between two receivers), normally done before the IFR flight; log the date, place, bearing error and signature. Stale or out of tolerance means no VOR use under IFR.(14 CFR 91.171)
- •Note servicing needs: fuel, oil, and anything that needs a mechanic’s look.(Your airplane's POH/AFM)
What you should know
The postflight check and write-up K1 · R1
- The systematic review first: each flight instrument, nav receiver, comm radio, the autopilot and the transponder, against what it did in flight. Then the walk-around: damage, leaks, ice or anything loose; the antennas and the pitot and static ports.(Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B); Your airplane's POH/AFM)
- Note anything that misbehaved in flight: a navaid flag, a flickering display, a radio that cut out, a gyro that drifted.(Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B))
- Record discrepancies in the aircraft’s maintenance records or squawk system, per the owner or operator.(14 CFR 91.405)
- Placarding "Inoperative" is one step of the formal deferral, done with deactivation or removal and a maintenance-record entry, not a routine personal postflight action. Your job is the write-up and telling the operator.(14 CFR 91.213(d))
On the flight
ACS standards
- Conduct a postflight inspection and document discrepancies and servicing requirements, if any.(Instrument Rating ACS (FAA-S-ACS-8C), IR.VIII.A.S1)
What your instructor is watching for
Your instructor watches for a real walk-around, honest notes on anything that misbehaved, and a write-up the next pilot can use.
Scenarios
Decide what you would do first, then see the worked answer.
The COM 1 radio cut out twice during the flight.
What do you do? See the worked answer
Always a specific write-up in the official squawk system, plus a heads-up to the operator or next pilot; the verbal handoff never replaces the write-up.
14 CFR 91.405
You notice the static port has tape residue on it.
What do you do? See the worked answer
Leave it as found: don’t clean, scrape or probe a pitot-static port. Write it up and tell maintenance and the operator; the airplane isn’t ready for IFR until maintenance clears it.
Your airplane's POH/AFM
You’re late and tempted to skip the write-up.
Why not? See the worked answer
The next pilot may fly IFR relying on that equipment.
Risk Management Handbook (FAA-H-8083-2A)
Common mistakes
Telling only a friend.
Maintenance never hears.
Instead: Write it in the official system.
Vague write-ups.
Maintenance can’t find it.
Instead: Say what, when and where.
Now train it
Say it out loud, hear it asked, and take the quick check in this lesson’s practice pack. It tracks your shaky spots.
Got it?
When it feels solid, practice checking instruments and equipment out loud with our examiner.
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Go to the source (free)
Teaching this? The instructor lesson plan →
Sources
- 14 CFR: 91.171, 91.213, 91.405
- Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B): IFR flight
- Instrument Rating ACS (FAA-S-ACS-8C): Area VIII
Study aid, not FAA guidance. Regulations change; check the current text at eCFR and the ACS. Checked against current sources 2026-11-13.