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instrument proficiency check

Asked by: 3169 views ,
Instrument Rating

Hi i have a question i have not flown an  about 13 years, what do i have to do if i want to get my instrument rating ,instrument proficiency check  would be enough to get current? of course after the biennial flight review.

Thanks.

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2 Answers



  1. LTCTerry on Sep 12, 2016

    I was taught the rule of thumb of “one hour of dual for each year of no flying” to attain PTS-now-ACS proficiency after a prolonged break from flying. In my experience of teaching long lapsed power pilots to fly gliders this is reasonable.

    I think it’s somewhere between rather optimistic and unreasonable to think you could jump in an airplane after 13 years and pass both an IPC and a Flight Review. (The word Biennial disappeared from the title sometime mid-90s.)

    Find an instructor, then arrange for some dual flying with the purpose of preparing for a flight review. The old PTS has been replaced with Airman Certification Standards (ACS). Download these for Private Pilot and Instrument Rating. Print them out. Put them in a binder. Read them.

    You might find it worthwhile to spend an hour of ground instruction time with an instructor before you ever fly. Your binder full of notes will save you money and prepare you to learn.

    As you gain proficiency and comfort again, add in some IFR work. Then approaches. If you take the approach of “one step at a time” you’ll avoid having an instructor say “sorry, I can’t sign you off.”

    I was away from flying for 15 months when I went to Iraq. I could have safely put an airplane on the runway, but it would not have been pretty or to standard.

    Good luck, and more importantly, WELCOME BACK! 🙂

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  2. Mark Kolber on Sep 14, 2016

    If you are asking a regulatory question, the answer is yes. All you would need is a successful IPC to regain instrument currency. It can even be combined with your successful completion of a FR.

    The “catch” is, of course, what LTCTerry talks about. How much training will it take to get to that “successful completion”.

    And, although I mentioned that one could combine the FR and IPC, I would not recommend it in most cases involving a pilot returning from a long layoff.

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