What are the requirements for an instrument rating?

What do I need for an instrument rating?

Six things, set out in 14 CFR 61.65(a):

1. A private pilot certificate with an airplane rating, or an application for one at the same time, and English.
2. Ground training from an instructor, or a home-study course, on the knowledge areas.
3. The knowledge test, after an instructor endorses you for it.
4. Flight training from an instructor on the eight areas of operation.
5. The flight time in 61.65(d).
6. The practical test, the checkride, after an instructor endorses you for it.

How many hours do I need?

Two totals, under 61.65(d):

• 50 hours of cross-country time as pilot in command, of which 10 hours must be in an airplane.
• 40 hours of actual or simulated instrument time, of which 15 hours must be with an instructor who holds an instrument-airplane rating, a CFII.

Within the 40 hours of instrument time, the training must include:

• 3 hours of instrument flight training with an instructor in an airplane, within 2 calendar months before the date of the checkride.
• One cross-country flight with an instructor under instrument flight rules, on a filed flight plan: 250 nautical miles along airways or by ATC routing, an instrument approach at each airport, and three different kinds of approaches.

Count your cross-country time as pilot in command before you start. If you are working on the private pilot certificate and the instrument rating together, 61.65(g) lets you credit up to 45 hours of cross-country time flown with an instructor while performing the duties of pilot in command.

What is on the knowledge test?

The ten knowledge areas of 61.65(b): the IFR regulations, the IFR parts of the Aeronautical Information Manual, the ATC system and its procedures, IFR navigation and approaches, en route and approach charts, weather reports and forecasts, safe operation under IFR, critical weather and windshear, decision making, and crew resource management.

You need an instructor's endorsement before you sit it (61.65(a)(4)). A passing result must fall within the 24 calendar months before the month you complete the checkride (61.39(a)(1)(i)).

How should I do the ground training?

61.65(a)(3) accepts either logged ground training from an instructor or a home-study course. That leaves three ways to do it.

1. On your own, with a course

   A video course from Sporty's or King Schools covers the knowledge areas at your own pace. You still need an instructor's endorsement before the knowledge test (61.35(a)(1)), from an instructor who reviewed your home study.

2. One on one with me

   Ground instruction is $65/hr, for a session that is not a flight lesson. We go through every knowledge area together, and each session is logged.

3. A mix of both

   The option I recommend. The course carries the reading and the videos, and the sessions with me go to the topics that did not stick and to practice for the oral exam.

What is on the checkride?

An oral exam and a flight with an examiner, covering the eight areas of operation in 61.65(c): 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.

To take it you need an instructor's endorsement that you are prepared (61.65(a)(6)), the 3 hours of recent training above, and your knowledge test report.

Where do I start?

With your logbook: total your cross-country time as pilot in command and any instrument time you already have. I teach every lesson of instrument rating training myself, as a CFII, at $75/hr of instruction. The airplane, a Cessna 172 or Piper Archer, is paid to Countrywide Flyers at the club rate.