Instrument Rating: The First 100 Hours

Congratulations! Youve just passed your instrument practical test. A significant achievement, requiring much more discipline and learning than even the private pilot exam. Or maybe youve held your instrument rating for a while, but youve never developed a plan to improve your skills. You may have even let your skills erode in some areas, to the extent you couldnt pass every task if you had to retake the practical test today. Unfortunately, most pilots get handed the proverbial "license to learn" by a pilot examiner, then dont really know what to do next except "go out and fly." To avoid aimlessness or atrophy of your instrument skills and the life-threatening danger aimlessness breeds, first ask yourself what type of flying-personal transportation, time-sensitive business flying, etc.-you plan to do. Commit to a goal, whether its simply maintaining your skills at basic IFR levels, advancing beyond your current capabilities, or aiming for airline transport pilot standards. Then map out a program for the next 100 flight hours to develop and hone the necessary skills. Emphasis should be on safety, aimed toward what you want to do with airplanes. Be serious, but keep it interesting, challenging and fun.

Key Takeaways:

• After passing the instrument practical test, pilots must develop a proactive plan to prevent skill erosion, as minimum FAA requirements are insufficient for true proficiency and safety.
• A structured 100-hour post-checkride plan, tailored to personal flying goals, is essential for maintaining and advancing instrument skills beyond the initial rating.
• This plan should focus on retaining learned skills, customizing them to intended flying, enhancing proficiency, and incorporating regular quality control, especially by gaining experience in actual instrument meteorological conditions.

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