An Instrument Rating (IR) is a pilot rating earned through intensive training focused on flying solely by reference to instruments. It is arguably one of the most valuable ratings you can add to your pilot certificate and is a fun and challenging discipline of flight training. A well-trained and proficient instrument pilot can fly an airplane from point A to point B without ever having to look out the window except for takeoff and landing; it is truly a remarkable skill.
Course Description
An instrument rating makes every pilot a more knowledgeable, safer pilot. Instrument rated pilots will also be equipped with the aeronautical decision skills to stop and think before you get into a situation where you need to use your instrument flying skills. Attempting VFR flight in IMC is one of the most consistently deadly decisions or mistakes in all of aviation.
History has shown us that weather-related general aviation accidents are often fatal. When pilots cannot see the horizon, spatial disorientation can onset rapidly. When John F. Kennedy, Jr. crashed his Piper Saratoga into the Atlantic Ocean near Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, on July 16, 1999, he did not have an instrument rating. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) stated that Kennedy’s failure to maintain control of the airplane was the result of spatial disorientation, with haze and the dark night being factors.
There are different ways to obtain training for your instrument rating, and the reason you want the rating may have an effect on the training method that you choose. Should you enroll in our regimented FAR Part 141 school? This can provide intense training that can have you finished up in days. Part 61 will be at your own pace with a flexible curriculum and schedule. Again, it all depends on the intensity and availability for you to train.
A person who applies for an instrument rating must:
- Hold at least a current private pilot certificate or be concurrently applying for a private pilot certificate with an airplane, helicopter, or powered-lift rating appropriate to the instrument rating sought.
- Be able to read, speak, write, and understand the English language.
You must have logged the following:
- At least 50 hours of cross-country flight time as pilot in command. At least 10 of these hours must be in airplanes for an instrument-airplane rating. This requirement is not applicable under Part 141.
- A total of 40 hours of actual or simulated instrument time on the areas of operation listed in 61.65(c). Under Part 141 the total time required is 35 hours.
- At least 15 hours of instrument flight training from an authorized instructor in the aircraft category for the instrument rating sought.
For instrument-airplane rating, instrument training on cross-country flight procedures that includes at least one cross-country flight in an airplane that is performed under instrument flight rules. This flight must consist of:
- A distance of at least 250 nm along airways or ATC-directed routing.
- An instrument approach at each airport.
- Three different kinds of approaches with the use of navigation systems (Example: ILS, VOR, GPS, etc).
- At least 3 hours of instrument training that is appropriate to the instrument rating sought from an authorized instructor in preparation for the checkride within two calendar months before the examination date.