Instrument Rating in the United States

An Instrument Rating is required for a pilot

Aviator

An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...

to fly under instrument flight rules

Instrument flight rules

Instrument flight rules are one of two sets of regulations governing all aspects of civil aviation aircraft operations; the other are visual flight rules ....

(IFR).

In the U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, the rating is issued by the FAA

Federal Aviation Administration

The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...

Instrument rating standards

To be eligible to pursue an Instrument Rating, the applicant must:

Hold at least a Private Pilot Certificate.
Pursuant to the requirement to hold the Private Pilot Certificate, the applicant must be at least 17 years old.
Be able to read, write, and converse fluently in English.
Hold a current FAA Medical Certificate, unless the Practical Examination is administered, in its entirety, in an FAA-certified Level D Flight Training Device.
Receive and log ground training from an authorized instructor (i.e. ground school course) or complete a home-study course using an instrument textbook and/or videos.

Ground training

Candidates for the instrument rating must be knowledgeable in IFR-related items in the AIM
Aeronautical Information Manual
In United States aviation, the Aeronautical Information Manual is the Federal Aviation Administration's official guide to basic flight information and ATC procedures....

, the U.S. ATC
Air traffic control
Air traffic control is a service provided by ground-based controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and in the air. The primary purpose of ATC systems worldwide is to separate aircraft to prevent collisions, to organize and expedite the flow of traffic, and to provide information and other...

system and procedures, IFR navigation, the use of IFR charts, aviation weather, requirements for operating under IFR conditions, recognition of critical weather, Aeronautical Decision Making (ADM) and Crew Resource Management (CRM).
Candidates must also pass the FAA instrument rating knowledge test with a score of 70% or better.

Flight experience and training

Accumulate flight experience per FAR
Far
Far or FAR may refer to:- Organizations :* Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias, part of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces* Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias , a guerrilla group in Argentina...

61.65:
- The candidate must have at least 50 hours of cross-country flight time as pilot in command, which can include solo cross-country time as a student pilot. Each cross-country must have a landing at an airport
  Airport
  An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
  
  that is at least a straight-line distance of more than 50 NM from the original departure point.
- The candidate must make at least one cross-country flight that is performed under IFR and transits a distance of at least 250 NM along airways or ATC-directed routing and includes an instrument approach at each airport so that a total of three different kinds of instrument approaches are performed.
- The candidate also needs a total of 40 hours of actual or simulated instrument time, including a minimum of 15 hours of instrument flight training from a Flight Instructor certified to teach the instrument rating (CFII)
- Up to 20 hours of the instrument training may be accomplished in an approved flight simulator or flight training device if the training was provided by an authorized instructor. (CFI)
- Within 60 days of the practical test, the candidate needs to log 3 hours of instrument training from a CFII in preparation for the test.
- Receive and log training, as well as obtain a logbook endorsement from your CFII on the following areas of operation: preflight preparation, preflight procedures, air traffic control clearances and procedures, flight by reference to instruments, navigation systems, instrument approach procedures, emergency operations, and postflight procedures.
Successfully complete the instrument rating practical test (an oral and flight test), as specified in Practical Test Standards (PTS) for the instrument rating, which will be conducted by an FAA designated examiner.

Operations requiring an instrument rating

A pilot must have an instrument rating in order to act as Pilot in Command of a flight below VFR weather minimums and/or under IFR. The rating is also required:

When flying an airplane under Special VFR at night (helicopters are excepted from the regulation.)
When a commercial pilot is flying an airplane carrying passengers for hire, on flights in excess of 50 nautical miles (92.6 km) or at night.

IFR currency requirement

Under FAR 61.57, to be eligible to fly in Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC)

Instrument meteorological conditions

Instrument meteorological conditions is an aviation flight category that describes weather conditions that require pilots to fly primarily by reference to instruments, and therefore under Instrument Flight Rules , rather than by outside visual references under Visual Flight Rules . Typically, this...

an IFR-rated pilot must accomplish and log at least the following IFR procedures under actual or simulated IMC every 6 months:

6 instrument approaches
Holding procedures
Intercepting and tracking courses through the use of navigation systems

An Instrument Proficiency Check administered by a CFII within the last 6 months is another way of complying with the IFR currency requirement.

External links

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