Instrument Currency

Instrument currency is a pain in the tuchus. Convergence of soupy weather, aircraft availability, and free time rarely occurs. Even flying weekly, as I do, results in few actual instrument approaches. Unlike with landings, you cant maintain instrument currency on your own in VMC without a safety pilot or instructor.

jmiller

Friday, November 14, 2014 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Instrument currency is maintained either through an Instrument Proficiency Check (IPC) or by logging specific flight experience, which can involve actual flight, flight simulators (FS/FTD), or Aviation Training Devices (ATD).
While various experience options exist for simulators and ATDs, some complex combination methods (Options 4 & 5) are criticized as inefficient and confusing, often making an IPC a more practical alternative.
A crucial legal requirement for logging instrument recency time in any flight simulator, FTD, or ATD is the presence and signature of an authorized instructor.
The article stresses that merely meeting legal currency requirements does not guarantee actual proficiency, urging pilots to focus on true skill to avoid safety risks.

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Instrument currency is a pain in the tuchus. Convergence of soupy weather, aircraft availability, and free time rarely occurs. Even flying weekly, as I do, results in few actual instrument approaches. Unlike with landings, you can’t maintain instrument currency on your own in VMC without a safety pilot or instructor.

Detailed currency requirements aim to keep us safe. The feds know we need options in our quest for currency, but options make for complex rules. Simple rules, though, can be onerous and encourage pencil-whipping currency. So, options abound. We’ll look at legal currency, but I’ll point out that proficiency isn’t necessarily the same.