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

Is it worth all the work involved? One of the industry's most well-known instructors has the answer.

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.

Do you have a question about aviation that’s been bugging you? Ask us anything you’ve ever wanted to know about aviation. Our experts in general aviation, training, aircraft, avionics, and more may attempt to answer your question in a future article.

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