Pilot Currency Requirements

Tom Benenson

Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 07:38 PM ET

Verified

** The biennially required flight review, if
approached as a real learning experience,
can refurbish proficiency.**

Key Takeaways:

Flying skills, unlike riding a bicycle, diminish rapidly without regular practice, leading to a decline in proficiency even for experienced pilots.
Merely meeting minimum regulatory currency requirements (e.g., for passenger flights or IFR) does not guarantee actual pilot competence, especially when encountering unfamiliar equipment or challenging conditions.
Pilots should proactively exceed regulatory minimums by practicing more frequently, diversifying their flight experiences, and utilizing flight reviews as genuine opportunities to enhance a wide range of skills for improved safety and competence.

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(October 2011) The concept of staying current always seemed an intellectual one to me. While I still had my Cessna Cardinal, I tried to fly it every week or so to keep its fluids — and mine — flowing. As a result, I was able to routinely check off most of the currency boxes without much special effort. But now, without the Cardinal, my time in the cockpit is curtailed, and though I’ve always felt flying an airplane was a lot like riding a bike — a skill that was easily resurrected after a layoff — I was wrong.

I recently flew a Cardinal for the first leg on a flight to Atlanta to attend the Society of Aviation and Flight Educators’ Pilot Training Reform Symposium. Doug Stewart, chairman of SAFE, let me ride with him in his Cardinal and offered me the left seat on the first leg. After owning a Cardinal for almost 25 years, I felt comfortable assuming command.