Instrument rating · ACS IR.I.A
Pilot Qualifications (Instrument)
This task covers the instrument rating’s requirements, its privileges and limits, staying current, BasicMed, and the difference between legal and safe.
Why this one matters
The instrument rating lets you fly in conditions where a mistake has little margin. Pilots who meet the legal currency but rarely fly in actual IMC, or who fly an unfamiliar glass cockpit for the first time in clouds, are the ones most at risk. Knowing the requirements is the floor; honest proficiency and personal minimums are what keep you safe.
Can’t miss
- •To act as PIC under IFR or in weather below VFR minimums, you need an instrument rating, and you must be instrument current.(14 CFR 61.3(e); 61.57(c))
- •Instrument currency: within the 6 calendar months before the month of the flight, 6 instrument approaches, holding procedures and tasks, and intercepting and tracking courses through electronic navigation systems. They count only under actual or simulated instrument conditions (a view-limiting device), solely by reference to instruments, in the right category of aircraft or an approved FFS, FTD or ATD, with each approach flown down to the MDA or DA. A visual practice approach in VMC without a view-limiting device doesn't count.(14 CFR 61.57(c); AC 61-98)
- •If you lapse, you may not act as PIC under IFR or below VFR minimums until you regain it. For 6 more calendar months you can regain it by flying the tasks with a safety pilot, an instructor or in an approved device; after that you need an instrument proficiency check (IPC).(14 CFR 61.57(c)-(d))
- •Log the location and type of each approach, and the name of the safety pilot for simulated instrument time.(14 CFR 61.51(g))
- •You may fly IFR under BasicMed, within its limits: at or below 18,000 feet MSL, at or below 250 knots, not for compensation or hire, no more than 6 passengers, and an aircraft certificated for no more than 7 occupants and 12,500 pounds.(14 CFR 61.113(i); Part 68)
- •Currency is the legal minimum; proficiency is what keeps you safe. Set personal minimums above the legal ones and raise them when you are rusty or the airplane is new to you.(Risk Management Handbook (FAA-H-8083-2A))
- •Unfamiliar avionics are a hazard in IMC: learn the system on the ground or in VMC before relying on it in the clouds.(Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B))
What you should know
Getting and keeping the rating K1
- For an airplane instrument rating: at least a private pilot certificate; 50 hours of cross-country PIC time, at least 10 in airplanes; and 40 hours of actual or simulated instrument time, including 15 hours of instrument training from an authorized instructor and 3 hours of it in an airplane within 2 calendar months before the practical test.(14 CFR 61.65(a), (d))
- The long IFR cross-country, with an instructor, on an IFR flight plan: at least 250 nm along airways or ATC routing, an instrument approach at each airport, and three different kinds of approaches using navigation systems.(14 CFR 61.65(d)(2)(ii))
- To stay current: 6 approaches, holding, and intercepting and tracking courses in the 6 calendar months before the month of the flight, in actual or simulated conditions, in an airplane or an approved device. Count back month by month: the oldest task drops out first, and when you no longer have all of them, you aren't current.(14 CFR 61.57(c))
- A worked example: your last approaches, holding and tracking were all in March. You're current through the end of September; from October you can't act as PIC under IFR, but you can regain currency with a safety pilot or instructor through the end of March next year. From April, only an IPC restores it.(14 CFR 61.57(c)-(d))
- A safety pilot is a required crewmember: at least a private pilot with category and class ratings for the airplane, with a medical (or BasicMed), adequate vision forward and to each side, and dual controls.(14 CFR 91.109(c); 61.3(c))
- Lapsed beyond the 6-month grace period, an instrument proficiency check restores currency: given by an examiner, a CFII, a qualifying company check pilot or another person the FAA authorizes, on the tasks the Instrument ACS lists for an IPC, in an airplane or an FFS or FTD. An ATD alone can't complete an IPC.(14 CFR 61.57(d); Instrument Rating ACS (FAA-S-ACS-8C))
- Log approaches by location and type, and the safety pilot’s name for simulated instrument time. Log instrument time only when you fly solely by reference to instruments in actual or simulated conditions: an IFR flight plan in clear weather isn't instrument time.(14 CFR 61.51(g))
Privileges and BasicMed K2 · K3
- An instrument rating allows flight under IFR, in weather below VFR minimums, and in Class A airspace (with the required equipment and clearance).(14 CFR 61.3(e); 91.135)
- To act as PIC under IFR, check all of it: a certificate with the category and class, an instrument rating, a flight review within 24 calendar months, a medical (or BasicMed), instrument currency, and 90-day takeoff and landing recency (night recency at night) if you carry passengers.(14 CFR 61.3; 61.56; 61.57(a)-(c))
- BasicMed eligibility: a U.S. driver's license; a Part 67 medical certificate held at some time after July 14, 2006, not suspended, revoked or withdrawn, with the most recent application not denied; an exam with the Comprehensive Medical Examination Checklist within 48 calendar months; the online course within 24 calendar months; and a one-time special issuance first for certain conditions.(14 CFR 61.23(c)(3); Part 68; 68.9)
- BasicMed allows IFR, within its limits: an aircraft authorized to carry no more than 7 occupants with a maximum certificated takeoff weight of no more than 12,500 pounds; no more than 6 passengers on board; at or below 18,000 feet MSL; at or below 250 knots indicated; not for compensation or hire; and not outside the United States unless the country you fly in authorizes it (Mexico and the Bahamas do). Current text, effective November 18, 2024.(14 CFR 61.113(i); Part 68)
Legal versus safe R1 · R2 · R3 · R4
- Currency is a legal minimum; proficiency is the skill to fly the approach to minimums in turbulence with a failure. If it’s been a while, fly with an instructor or in VMC first.(Risk Management Handbook (FAA-H-8083-2A))
- Set personal minimums for ceiling, visibility, crosswind and icing above the legal ones, and write them down. Raise them when you’re tired, rusty or in an unfamiliar airplane.(Risk Management Handbook (FAA-H-8083-2A))
- Fitness: IMSAFE. Illness (a cold blocks ears and sinuses and heightens disorientation), Medication (many sedate), Stress, Alcohol, Fatigue (it degrades instrument scan first), Emotion and Eating. Spatial disorientation is more likely when you’re not at your best.(Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B); Risk Management Handbook (FAA-H-8083-2A))
- A new airplane or avionics system: learn it on the ground and in VMC. Know how to load an approach, use the autopilot modes, and what the display does when something fails.(Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B))
Scenarios
Decide what you would do first, then see the worked answer.
Your last approaches, holding and tracking were all in April, and it’s now November.
Can you file IFR as PIC, and how do you get current? See the worked answer
No: currency ran through the end of October. You’re in the grace period through the end of April: fly the 6 approaches, holding and tracking in simulated conditions with a safety pilot, an instructor or an approved device. From May, only an IPC restores it.
14 CFR 61.57(c)-(d)
You’re flying under BasicMed and want to file IFR to an airport at FL190 is the efficient altitude.
Can you? See the worked answer
Not above 18,000 feet MSL under BasicMed, so not FL190. Plan at or below 18,000 (18,000 itself is allowed, though it’s Class A and needs IFR).
14 CFR 61.113(i)
You rented an airplane with an avionics suite you’ve never used, and the weather is IMC.
What do you do? See the worked answer
Learn it first in VMC or with an instructor. Loading an approach for the first time in clouds is a classic setup for loss of situational awareness.
Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B)
Common mistakes
Treating currency as proficiency.
Legal minimums don’t make a rusty pilot safe.
Instead: Practice regularly, and fly with an instructor when rusty.
Not logging approach details.
You can’t prove currency.
Instead: Log location, type and safety pilot.
Flying new avionics in IMC first.
Workload and confusion.
Instead: Learn them on the ground and in VMC.
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 pilot qualifications (instrument) out loud with our examiner.
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Sources
- 14 CFR Part 61: 61.3, 61.51, 61.57, 61.65, 61.113
- 14 CFR Part 68: BasicMed
- Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B): Human Factors
- Risk Management Handbook (FAA-H-8083-2A): Personal minimums
- Instrument Rating ACS (FAA-S-ACS-8C): Area I
Study aid, not FAA guidance. Regulations change; check the current text at eCFR and the ACS. Checked against current sources 2026-11-13.