What An Instrument Proficiency Check Is
An instrument proficiency check, universally shortened to IPC, is the evaluation that puts an instrument-rated pilot back in instrument currency after it has been gone too long to fix by flying. Under 14 CFR 61.57(d) it is required once you have failed to meet the instrument experience requirements for more than six calendar months, and it is flown to the areas of operation in the applicable Airman Certification Standards.
An IPC is not a checkride against your rating. Your instrument rating never expires and an IPC cannot take it away. What lapses is currency — the rolling recent-experience requirement that decides whether you may legally file and fly.
You Fly LA flies from 7900 Balboa Blvd at Van Nuys Airport (KVNY), seven days a week from 9 AM to 9 PM. Instruction is $110 per hour, a single-engine aircraft is $179 per hour, and the Redbird full-motion simulator is $120 per hour.
How Instrument Currency Works Under 14 CFR 61.57(c)
The rule is a rolling look-back, not an annual renewal. 14 CFR 61.57(c)(1) says that within the 6 calendar months preceding the month of the flight, a pilot must have performed and logged, in actual weather conditions or under simulated conditions using a view-limiting device, the following in an airplane, powered-lift, helicopter or airship appropriate to the instrument rating privileges to be maintained:
- Six instrument approaches.
- Holding procedures and tasks.
- Intercepting and tracking courses through the use of navigational electronic systems.
Pilots remember it as "six, holding, intercepting and tracking", and the three parts are not interchangeable. Nine approaches with no holding leaves you out of currency. Note also what the regulation does not say: it does not say six approaches in six months, one per month. It says within the 6 calendar months preceding the month of the flight, so the window slides. An approach flown in March is still counted for a flight in September and falls off in October.
Paragraph (c)(2) is the part that makes currency affordable. The requirements may be accomplished in a full flight simulator, flight training device, or aviation training device, provided the device represents the category of aircraft for the privileges being maintained and the tasks are performed in simulated instrument conditions. It also states plainly that a pilot may complete the instrument experience "in any combination of an aircraft, full flight simulator, flight training device, or aviation training device." Four approaches in the airplane and two in the Redbird at $120 per hour is a legitimate six.
When Currency Lapses: What The Grace Period Actually Is
This is where most of the confusion lives, and the regulation is more precise than the folklore.
There are three states, not two. While you satisfy 61.57(c) you are current and you may act as pilot in command under IFR or in weather below VFR minimums. When you no longer satisfy it you are not current, and you may not — but 61.57(d)(1) only requires an IPC once you have "failed to meet the instrument experience requirements of paragraph (c) of this section for more than six calendar months." That leaves a six-calendar-month window between losing currency and needing an IPC, and inside that window you can still regain currency by going out and flying the tasks yourself.
What that window does not do is let you fly IFR while you use it. You are not instrument current, so the approaches cannot be flown in actual instrument conditions on an IFR clearance with you as pilot in command. In practice there are three legal ways to fly them: in simulated instrument conditions under a view-limiting device with a qualified safety pilot in the other control seat as required by 14 CFR 91.109(c); with an authorized instructor; or in a simulator, flight training device or aviation training device under 61.57(c)(2). Most pilots use a safety pilot, and the flight is flown in visual conditions throughout.
Miss the second six months and the door closes. Past that point, 61.57(d)(1) says a pilot "may reestablish instrument currency only by completing an instrument proficiency check." There is no further grace, no partial credit and no way to fly your way back without one.
| Where You Stand | Regulation | May You File IFR? | What Puts You Back |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current | 14 CFR 61.57(c) | Yes | Six approaches, holding, and intercepting and tracking within the preceding 6 calendar months |
| Lapsed, within the following six calendar months | 14 CFR 61.57(c) and (d)(1) | No | Fly the same tasks with a safety pilot, an instructor, or in an approved device — no IPC required |
| Lapsed for more than six calendar months | 14 CFR 61.57(d)(1) | No | An instrument proficiency check, and nothing else |
Not sure which of those three you are in? Bring the logbook and we will read the dates with you before anybody books an airplane. Instruction is $110 per hour and the Redbird is $120 per hour.
Call (818) 330-1318 Meet The Instructors
What An IPC Covers
14 CFR 61.57(d)(1) does not print a task list. It says the check "must include the areas of operation contained in the applicable Airman Certification Standards ... as listed in appendix A of this part as appropriate to the rating held." Appendix A to Part 61 is the table that names the governing document, and for both the instrument rating and the instrument proficiency check in an airplane it names FAA-S-ACS-8C, the Instrument Rating — Airplane Airman Certification Standards, dated November 2023.
That is why an IPC is not a fixed two-hour event. It is scoped by a published standard, and the areas of operation in the instrument rating are the same eight listed for the rating itself in 14 CFR 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.
In a real airplane, on a real day, that normally means a departure procedure or a clearance flown as issued, holding, airwork under the hood including unusual attitude recoveries, precision and non-precision approaches, a circling approach, a missed approach flown properly rather than announced, a partial-panel or equipment-failure segment, and a landing. An honest IPC is closer to three or four hours of flying than to one, and it is normal to split it across two sessions with ground work between. If the first flight shows the scan has gone, the answer is more training and then the check, not a longer check.
There is no knowledge test, no application to the FAA and no examiner unless you choose one. The output is a logbook endorsement.
Where The Aircraft And Device Rules Differ From Currency
This catches people out, so it is worth stating precisely. For maintaining currency, 61.57(c)(2) permits a full flight simulator, a flight training device, or an aviation training device. For the IPC itself, 61.57(d)(2) is narrower: the check must be in an aircraft appropriate to the aircraft category, or — for other than a glider — in a full flight simulator or flight training device that is representative of the aircraft category. The aviation training device that was good enough to keep you current is not on that list.
Read the two paragraphs together and the practical plan writes itself: use devices to stay current cheaply, and expect to fly the check itself in the airplane or in a qualifying device. Our full-motion simulator page sets out what the Redbird is and what it is used for, and the fleet is on the fleet page.
Who Can Give An Instrument Proficiency Check
14 CFR 61.57(d)(3) lists five categories. The check must be given by an examiner; a person authorized by the U.S. Armed Forces to conduct instrument flight tests, where the pilot being tested is a member of the armed forces; a company check pilot authorized to conduct instrument flight tests under part 121, 125 or 135, or subpart K of part 91, where both are employees of that operator; an authorized instructor; or a person approved by the Administrator to conduct instrument practical tests.
For almost every general aviation pilot the relevant entry is the fourth: an authorized instructor. Note what that phrase carries with it. 14 CFR 61.1 defines an authorized instructor as, among other things, a person holding a flight instructor certificate who is in compliance with 61.197 and acting "in accordance with the privileges and limitations of his or her flight instructor certificate" — which means an instrument instructor rating for an instrument check. Ask, when you book, that the instructor holds the instrument instructor rating. Ours are on the flight instructors page.
Past the six-month window? Then it is an IPC, and the sooner it is booked the less of it is remedial training. Instruction is $110 per hour, a single-engine aircraft is $179 per hour and the Redbird is $120 per hour.
Call (818) 330-1318 Aircraft And Rates
IPC Versus Flight Review: They Are Not The Same Event
Both are recurrent, both end in a logbook endorsement, and both are commonly confused. They govern different privileges on different clocks.
| Instrument Proficiency Check | Flight Review | |
|---|---|---|
| Regulation | 14 CFR 61.57(d) | 14 CFR 61.56 |
| What it restores | Instrument currency, so you may fly IFR | The ability to act as pilot in command at all |
| When it is required | Only after currency has been lapsed for more than six calendar months | Every 24 calendar months, without exception |
| Content | Areas of operation in the applicable ACS named in appendix A to part 61 | Minimum 1 hour ground plus 1 hour flight, maneuvers at the instructor's discretion |
| Minimum duration in the rule | None stated | One hour ground and one hour flight |
They can, however, be flown together. 14 CFR 61.56(h) allows the flight review requirements to be accomplished in combination with the requirements of 61.57 at the discretion of the authorized instructor conducting the review, so a well-planned session can satisfy both. Say so when you book. The detail on the review side is on our page on the flight review and BFR.
Why Instrument Currency Matters More In Los Angeles Than Pilots Expect
Southern California has a reputation for weather so good that instrument flying is a formality. That reputation is earned for about nine months of the year and wrong for the other three.
May and June are marine layer season. A shallow deck of coastal stratus pushes into the basin overnight and burns off through the morning, and it does not clear evenly. Coastal fields can sit under it until midday while Van Nuys, fifteen miles inland with the Santa Monica Mountains between it and the ocean, clears hours earlier or never goes in at all. The result is a very common Los Angeles problem: a perfectly legal VFR departure from KVNY into a destination on the other side of the ridge that is IFR until eleven o'clock. A current instrument rating turns that from a cancelled day into a filed flight plan and an approach.
The approach environment is dense. Van Nuys is Class D beneath the shelves of the Los Angeles Class B, with Burbank's Class C a few miles east and terrain to the north around the Santa Susana Mountains. Clearances come quickly, routings are amended, and the workload on an IFR departure out of the Valley is higher than the chart suggests — which is why the six-approach requirement is a floor rather than a proficiency standard. For the difference between the two rule sets see VFR versus IFR, and when weather stands a flight down our weather and cancellation policy explains what happens.
What It Costs And How To Plan It
An IPC is billed as aircraft time plus instructor time at the published rates rather than as a package. Instruction is $110 per hour, ground instruction is $110 per hour, a single-engine aircraft is $179 per hour, the Diamond DA20-C1 is $229 per hour, the Cirrus SR20, SR22 and SR22T are $479 per hour, and the Redbird full-motion simulator is $120 per hour. Rates and the aircraft they apply to are on aircraft rental at Van Nuys and renting a plane in Los Angeles.
The cheapest way through an IPC is to arrive prepared: time in the simulator on holding entries, partial panel and approach briefings before you touch the airplane beats discovering in the air that the scan needs rebuilding. If you are still working toward the rating rather than back to it, the instrument rating in Los Angeles is a fixed $11,700. A lapsed flight review has to be fixed first regardless, and the aircraft rental page sets out what an operator checks before releasing an aircraft. If the airplane you want to fly IFR is retractable or over 200 horsepower, the separate signatures it needs are covered on complex and high-performance endorsements, and the briefing time around any of this is billed as ground instruction.
Frequently Asked Questions
When Do I Need An Instrument Proficiency Check?
Under 14 CFR 61.57(d)(1), once you have failed to meet the instrument experience requirements of 61.57(c) for more than six calendar months. Inside that six-month window you can still regain currency by flying six approaches, holding procedures and tasks, and intercepting and tracking courses, without an IPC.
What Are The Instrument Currency Requirements?
14 CFR 61.57(c)(1) requires that within the 6 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, in actual weather conditions or under simulated conditions using a view-limiting device.
Can I Use A Simulator For Instrument Currency And For The IPC?
For currency, 14 CFR 61.57(c)(2) allows a full flight simulator, flight training device or aviation training device, in any combination with an aircraft. For the IPC itself, 61.57(d)(2) is narrower and permits an aircraft appropriate to the category, or a full flight simulator or flight training device representative of the category. An aviation training device is not on that list.
Who Can Give An IPC?
14 CFR 61.57(d)(3) permits an examiner, a person authorized by the U.S. Armed Forces, a qualifying company check pilot, an authorized instructor, or a person approved by the Administrator to conduct instrument practical tests. For most general aviation pilots that means an instructor holding the instrument instructor rating.
How Long Does An Instrument Proficiency Check Take?
The regulation sets no minimum duration. Because the check is scoped to the areas of operation in the applicable Airman Certification Standards, an honest IPC is usually closer to three or four hours of flying than to one, and it is normal to split it across two sessions with ground work in between.
Is An IPC The Same As A Flight Review?
No. A flight review under 14 CFR 61.56 is required every 24 calendar months and governs whether you may act as pilot in command at all. An IPC under 14 CFR 61.57(d) is required only after instrument currency has been lapsed for more than six calendar months and governs whether you may fly IFR. Under 61.56(h) an instructor may combine them into one session.
Can I Fail An Instrument Proficiency Check?
An IPC is not a practical test and nothing is reported to the FAA. The output is a logbook endorsement, so an instructor either signs it or continues training you until they can. Your instrument rating is unaffected either way, because the rating does not expire — only currency does.
Book An IPC At Van Nuys
Bring your logbook and your last six months of approaches. We will read the dates, tell you whether you need an IPC or just a flight with a safety pilot, and book the airplane or the simulator accordingly. Open 9 AM to 9 PM, seven days.
Call (818) 330-1318 Book A Free Consultation Book A Discovery Flight — $229
Not instrument rated yet? Start with the instrument rating, or with a discovery flight at $229 for 60 minutes if you are not yet a pilot at all. No tax, no booking fee — $229 is the total.
You Fly LA · 7900 Balboa Blvd, Van Nuys, CA 91406 · Van Nuys Airport (KVNY) · Open 9 AM – 9 PM, seven days.