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Instrument rating · ACS IR.I.A · lesson pack

Pilot Qualifications (Instrument)

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.

1 · Know these cold

  • •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))

2 · The lesson

Getting and keeping the rating
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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))

Want it all on one page, with scenarios? Read the full lesson.

3 · Say it out loud

Answer each one out loud, then check yourself and mark how it went.

  1. Remember Recall it

    “What do you need to be instrument current?”

  2. Understand Explain why

    “Why set personal minimums above the legal ones?”

  3. Apply Use it on a flight

    “You’re current, but your last actual IMC was 8 months ago, and tonight’s weather is 400 and 1 with icing nearby. Do you go?”

4 · 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.

5 · Quick check

Answer, then reveal. Flag anything you want to see again.

  1. 1. What are the instrument currency requirements?

  2. 2. What restores currency after the grace period?

  3. 3. What must you log for an approach?

  4. 4. Can you fly IFR under BasicMed?

  5. 5. What is the difference between currency and proficiency?

  6. Scenario6. You feel tired before a night IFR flight in rain. What do you do?

Trained it? Now prove it: practice pilot qualifications (instrument) out loud with our examiner.

Start a practice oral on this task

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Connect it

One situation that runs across this lesson and its neighbors in the same ACS area. Decide first, then check.

Connect it · Preflight Preparation

Your last six approaches were 7 months ago. The forecast for your destination one hour either side of your arrival is ceilings 1,200 feet and visibility 3 miles.

Can you file and fly this, and what must the plan include? Decide, then see the worked answer

Not as pilot in command under IFR yet. You need six instrument approaches, holding, and intercepting and tracking courses within the preceding 6 calendar months. You're in the second 6 months, so you can still regain currency without an IPC: fly the missing tasks in simulated instrument conditions with a safety pilot, or in an approved FFS, FTD or ATD, or with an instructor. Until you're current you can't act as PIC under IFR or in weather below VFR minimums, and once the second 6 months have passed, only an IPC restores it. Once current: under 91.169 you need an alternate unless the destination has a standard instrument approach and, from 1 hour before to 1 hour after your ETA, the forecast is at least a 2,000-foot ceiling above airport elevation and 3 SM visibility. Either value falling short triggers it, so the 1,200-foot ceiling alone means you need an alternate here, even though the 3 miles meets the rule. At the alternate, published alternate minimums govern (and 'NA' means it can't be used); where none are published, the forecast at your ETA there must be at least 600-2 for a precision approach or 800-2 for a non-precision one. An airport with no instrument approach works only if the forecast allows a descent from the MEA, an approach and a landing under basic VFR. Fuel covers the destination, then the alternate, then 45 minutes at normal cruise.

14 CFR 61.57(c)-(d), 91.167, 91.169

Brings together: Pilot Qualifications · Weather Information · Cross-Country Flight Planning

Teaching this? The instructor lesson plan →

Study aid, not FAA guidance. Sources: 14 CFR Part 61; 14 CFR Part 68; Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B); Risk Management Handbook (FAA-H-8083-2A); Instrument Rating ACS (FAA-S-ACS-8C). Checked against current sources 2026-11-13.