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 can be maintained either through an Instrument Proficiency Check (IPC) or by meeting specific experience requirements, such as logging six instrument approaches, holding procedures, and intercepting/tracking courses.
While Aviation Training Devices (ATDs) and simulators offer options for maintaining currency, the more complex combination methods (options 4 and 5) are often confusing and considered less practical or efficient than a standard IPC.
Logging instrument currency time in simulators, flight training devices (FTDs), or ATDs explicitly requires the presence and signature of an authorized instructor.
The article strongly emphasizes that legal instrument currency does not guarantee actual flight proficiency, urging pilots to prioritize real-world skill and competence over mere compliance with regulations.

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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.