Should You Get an Instrument Rating if You Don't Want to Be a Professional Pilot?

Should You Get an Instrument Rating if You Don’t Want to Be a Professional Pilot?

Wednesday, February 16, 2022 at 10:25 AM ET

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Everything you learn during the process of getting an instrument rating helps the rest of your flying. [Photo: Julie Boatman]

Key Takeaways:

An instrument rating significantly enhances the enjoyment and excitement of flying, as the challenging skills learned apply to all aspects of aviation.
It increases the utility and frequency of flying by reducing weather limitations, allowing pilots to fly more often and for more purposes.
Getting an instrument rating improves safety on cross-country trips, relieves stress in dicey weather conditions, and helps pilots maintain situational awareness.

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I’m not planning on being a professional pilot. Why should I get an instrument rating?

You may enjoy flying now—but with an instrument rating, you will enjoy it more.

Getting an instrument rating is, indeed, a lot of work, but it is mixed with fun. Flying on instruments is like solving a challenging crossword puzzle. It’s a lot of effort, but it’s deeply rewarding. Plus, everything you learn in the process applies to the rest of your flying and makes it more exciting too. If you equip an airplane you own to do it, you will enjoy flying that airplane more from then on.

Having an instrument rating makes your flying more useful and lets you fly more often in general. Learning instrument skills relieves stress when the weather is dicey and improves your safety on cross-country trips significantly. It has been demonstrated countless times that you simply can’t tell up from down in instrument weather conditions by looking out of the windows.

Plus, with an instrument rating, you’ll sound better on the radio, too.

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