To act as pilot in command under IFR, or in weather below VFR minimums, 14 CFR 61.57(c) requires that within the six calendar months preceding the month of the flight you have performed and logged six instrument approaches, holding procedures and tasks, and intercepting and tracking courses through the use of navigational electronic systems. That is the whole requirement, and pilots shorten it to “six, hold, intercept and track.”
This page is about staying current and the arithmetic of the six-month clock. If your currency has already lapsed by more than six months, the fix is an instrument proficiency check, and our page on the instrument proficiency check covers that event in full. If you are still earning the rating, start at the instrument rating in Los Angeles, the pillar this page sits under. Every citation below was checked against the current text of Part 61 on eCFR.
What Currency Is, And What It Is Not
An instrument rating never expires. Currency does. The rating is a permanent qualification printed on your certificate; currency is a rolling six-month record of recent experience that determines whether you may use it today. Losing currency costs you nothing except the privileges, and regaining it usually costs an afternoon.
The requirement bites only when you intend to act as pilot in command under IFR or in weather less than the minimums prescribed for VFR flight. You may still fly VFR in good weather with lapsed instrument currency, and you may still file and fly IFR with a qualified instructor or another legally current and qualified pilot acting as pilot in command.
The Three Requirements In Detail
Six Instrument Approaches
Six, not six of each kind. They may be flown in an aircraft in actual instrument conditions, or in an aircraft under simulated instrument conditions using a view-limiting device with a safety pilot aboard, or in an approved flight simulator, flight training device or aviation training device, and you may mix all of those in any combination.
Two points catch people out. First, FAA legal interpretations have consistently held that an approach counts only if it is flown to the published minimum descent altitude or decision altitude, so breaking off at 1,500 feet because you have the runway in sight does not bank an approach. Second, if the approach is flown in an aircraft in visual conditions, the view-limiting device must be worn to the point where the approach is completed — which is why practicing approaches with a safety pilot requires the two of you to have agreed in advance where the hood comes off.
Holding Procedures And Tasks
One entry and a period in the hold, flown on instruments, is what the requirement contemplates. There is no published number of turns or minimum time in the rule. Most pilots fly a hold as part of one of the six approaches, because plenty of published procedures include a hold in lieu of a procedure turn, which makes the whole session more efficient.
Intercepting And Tracking Courses Using Navigational Electronic Systems
Intercepting a course and tracking it accurately, using whatever navigation equipment the aircraft carries. This is the easiest of the three to satisfy, because flying any approach from a vector involves intercepting and tracking a final approach course. It is worth doing deliberately rather than by accident, though, particularly with a navigation source you do not use often.
The Six Calendar Months, Counted Properly
The regulation says “within the 6 calendar months preceding the month of the flight,” and the phrase calendar months does real work. The clock does not run from the date of the approach; it runs to the end of the sixth month after it.
| Tasks completed on | Currency valid for flights through | IPC required from |
|---|---|---|
| 3 March | 30 September | 1 April the following year |
| 28 March | 30 September | 1 April the following year |
| 1 June | 31 December | 1 July the following year |
| 15 November | 31 May | 1 December the following year |
Notice that the 3rd and the 28th of March give the same expiry. Flying your currency early in a month buys you almost four extra weeks of validity at no cost, which is the cheapest planning trick in instrument flying.
The Grace Period, And What It Really Allows
There is no grace period in the sense most pilots mean it — you are not permitted to fly IFR on a lapsed currency for any length of time. What exists is a second six-month window in which you may put yourself back inside the rule on your own, without an examiner or an instructor signing anything.
| Where you are | May you act as PIC under IFR? | How you get back |
|---|---|---|
| Tasks completed within the preceding 6 calendar months | Yes | Nothing to do |
| Lapsed, but by 6 calendar months or less | No | Fly the six approaches, hold, and intercepting and tracking, in simulated conditions with a safety pilot or in an approved device |
| Lapsed by more than 6 calendar months | No | An instrument proficiency check under 14 CFR 61.57(d) |
The middle row is the one worth understanding. Because you are flying in visual conditions under a hood, you do not need instrument privileges to fly those approaches — you need a safety pilot, and you need the weather to be good. That is the practical reason instrument currency is usually regained on a clear afternoon rather than in cloud.
Once you are past 12 calendar months from the last set of tasks, 14 CFR 61.57(d) states that you may reestablish currency only by completing an instrument proficiency check, conducted by an examiner, an authorized instructor or another person authorized by the FAA, to the areas of operation in the applicable Airman Certification Standards. We cover that event, and what it costs, on our instrument proficiency check page.
The Safety Pilot Rules Nobody Reads Until They Need Them
Flying under a view-limiting device is simulated instrument flight, and 14 CFR 91.109(c) governs it. The other control seat must be occupied by a safety pilot who holds at least a private pilot certificate with category and class ratings appropriate to the aircraft, and who holds a medical certificate appropriate to the duties being performed. The aircraft must have fully functioning dual controls. And the safety pilot must have adequate vision forward and to each side of the aircraft, or a competent observer must be carried to supplement that vision.
The safety pilot does not need an instrument rating, which surprises people. What the safety pilot does need is the ability to see and avoid traffic while you cannot, which in the Los Angeles basin on a busy Saturday is not a trivial job.
Logging It So It Counts
An approach you cannot prove you flew is an approach you did not fly. 14 CFR 61.51(g) sets out what instrument flight time entries must contain: the location and type of each instrument approach accomplished, and the name of the safety pilot where one is required. Log the conditions too — actual or simulated — and note the hold and the intercepting and tracking separately rather than assuming an examiner will infer them.
Practically, a single column of six approach names with airports and dates is enough to answer any question a ramp check or an insurer will ever ask. Pilots who fly approaches in a simulator should log the device and the instructor or, where the device rules allow it, record the session as the device manufacturer and the FAA approval intend.
The Cheapest Way To Stay Current At Van Nuys
The whole set of tasks fits comfortably into a two-hour session, and you have three sensible ways to buy it.
| Method | What it costs per hour | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Redbird MCX full-motion simulator, with an instructor | $200 simulator, plus $110 instruction | Never cancels for weather; six approaches in two hours is comfortable |
| Piper Warrior, IFR-equipped, with an instructor | $269 aircraft, plus $110 instruction | Real airspace, real controllers, real workload |
| Piper Warrior with a safety pilot you bring | $269 aircraft | Safety pilot must meet 14 CFR 91.109(c); split the cost if you swap seats |
Those are retail, pay-as-you-go rates, which is what a currency session is. The simulator is the cheapest and the most task-dense: you can fly six approaches at six different airports in the time it takes to fly two in the airplane, and the instructor can reposition you rather than spending eleven minutes flying back to the initial approach fix. The airplane is better for the parts of instrument flying that are about workload rather than procedure — talking to Socal Approach, holding an altitude in real turbulence, and dealing with an actual clearance amendment. Most instrument pilots we fly with alternate.
Currency Is Not The Same As Proficiency
This is the part worth saying out loud. Six approaches in a simulator in one afternoon makes you legally current for six months. It does not necessarily make you safe to fly a coupled approach to minimums in a 900-foot overcast with a crosswind after five months of not touching the airplane.
A reasonable personal standard, and the one most instructors we know keep, is to fly instrument approaches monthly rather than semi-annually, and to fly at least some of them in the actual aircraft rather than only in a device. In Southern California that is easy to arrange, because the marine layer hands you genuine instrument conditions most mornings from late spring into summer. Our page on flyable days at Van Nuys sets out how the local weather actually behaves across the year.
Instrument currency also sits alongside, not inside, the other recency rules. The flight review under 14 CFR 61.56 is a separate 24-month requirement, and passenger-carrying currency under 61.57(a) and (b) is separate again. Our page on the flight review covers how those clocks interact.
Related Reading
- Instrument proficiency check — what an IPC involves when currency has lapsed past 12 months.
- Instrument rating in Los Angeles — the course that gets you the rating in the first place.
- IFR explained — clearances, approaches and the system the currency rules protect.
- The flight review under 61.56 — the other recency clock every pilot carries.
- The full-motion simulator — the cheapest place to fly six approaches.
- Aircraft rental at Van Nuys — checkout requirements and rental rates.
- The instrument written exam and ACS — how the ACS is built and what the test asks.
IFR Currency FAQ
What Are The IFR Currency Requirements?
Under 14 CFR 61.57(c), within the six calendar months preceding the month of the flight you must have performed and logged six instrument approaches, holding procedures and tasks, and intercepting and tracking courses through the use of navigational electronic systems. They may be flown in an aircraft in actual or simulated instrument conditions, or in an approved simulator or training device, in any combination.
How Long Does IFR Currency Last?
Six calendar months, counted to the end of the sixth month rather than from the date. Tasks completed on 3 March and on 28 March both keep you current through 30 September, so flying early in a month is free currency.
Do The Six Approaches Have To Be In Actual Instrument Conditions?
No. They may be flown in actual instrument meteorological conditions, or under a view-limiting device with a safety pilot who meets 14 CFR 91.109(c), or in an approved flight simulator, flight training device or aviation training device, and you may mix them.
What Happens If My Instrument Currency Lapses?
You may not act as pilot in command under IFR or in weather below VFR minimums until you regain it. For the first six calendar months after it lapses you may regain currency yourself by flying the tasks in simulated conditions with a safety pilot or in an approved device. Beyond that, 14 CFR 61.57(d) requires an instrument proficiency check.
Does A Safety Pilot Need An Instrument Rating?
No. 14 CFR 91.109(c) requires at least a private pilot certificate with category and class ratings appropriate to the aircraft, an appropriate medical certificate, fully functioning dual controls, and adequate vision forward and to each side, or a competent observer to supplement it.
Can I Use A Simulator For All Six Approaches?
Yes, provided the device is approved and represents the category of aircraft, and the tasks are performed in simulated instrument conditions. There is no requirement to split currency approaches between an aircraft and a device, although flying some of them in the airplane is a much better idea than the rule requires.
Does An Instrument Rating Expire?
No. The rating is permanent. Only the currency that lets you exercise it rolls, and regaining currency costs an afternoon rather than a retest.
Is An Instrument Proficiency Check The Same As A Flight Review?
No. They are separate requirements with separate clocks. The flight review under 14 CFR 61.56 is due every 24 calendar months for all pilots. An IPC under 61.57(d) restores instrument currency and is required only when you have been out of currency for more than six calendar months.
Book A Currency Session At Van Nuys
We fly instrument currency sessions in the Redbird MCX full-motion simulator and in our IFR-equipped Piper Warriors, seven days a week from 9 AM to 9 PM, and a session with an instructor covers all three requirements in one sitting. Call (818) 330-1318 to book, or book a free consultation if you want to talk through where your currency stands first. If you are not instrument-rated yet and want to see what the flying is like, a 60-minute discovery flight is $229 and you fly it yourself. We are at 7900 Balboa Blvd, Van Nuys, CA 91406, on Van Nuys Airport.