Instrument Rating

With the skills you’ll develop in instrument training, you’ll be able to control your airplane and navigate all the way to your destination without outside visual references, solely by reference to the flight instruments. The Instrument rating will open up many more opportunities for you to fly without being grounded by weather. And in the process, you’ll become a more accurate and more proficient–and thus safer–pilot, even when the weather is VFR.

To take the FAA Instrument Airplane rating (Part 61) practical test, you must:

  • Be able to read, write and speak the English language.
  • Complete the Computer-Based Instruction course.
  • Pass the FAA knowledge test before taking the practical test.
  • Hold at least a Private Pilot certificate with Airplane rating.
  • Have at least 50 hours of pilot in command cross-country flight time.

To add the Instrument Airplane rating to your pilot certificate, the FAA requires:

  • At least (40) forty hours of actual or simulated instrument flight time, and
  • At least (15) fifteen hours of dual instrument flight instruction (although 30-40 hours are typically needed for safety and competency), including:
  • (1) One dual IFR cross-country of at least 250 nm with different instrument approaches at each of three airports, and
  • (3) Three hours of instrument flight in preparation for the FAA practical test.

>Note that any actual or simulated instrument flight time that you have logged before beginning your Instrument rating training (such as the three hours of instrument flight time required for the Private Pilot certificate) will count toward these requirements.