Updated October 2026
The instrument checkride is an FAA practical test flown to the Instrument Rating ACS, FAA-S-ACS-8C, in force since 31 May 2024. It covers eight Areas of Operation in an oral and a flight. The flight includes at least two different non-precision approaches, a precision approach and holding, flown to 100 feet, 10 degrees and 10 knots.
It takes most of a day with a Designated Pilot Examiner, and it is the most procedural checkride you will take. Below: the ACS, the oral, the flight, where applicants come unstuck, and how to plan the day from Van Nuys.
Book A Discovery Flight — $229 Book A Free Consultation Call (818) 330-1318
What The Instrument Checkride Covers: The ACS Areas Of Operation
The eight Areas of Operation in the ACS are the same eight listed in 14 CFR 61.65(c). In a single-engine airplane you are tested on every Task below except the two engine-out Tasks in Area VII, which apply only to multi-engine applicants.
| Area | Tasks | Where It Is Tested |
|---|---|---|
| I. Preflight Preparation | Pilot qualifications; weather information; cross-country flight planning | Oral |
| II. Preflight Procedures | Aircraft systems for IFR; flight instruments and navigation equipment; instrument flight deck check | Oral and before taxi |
| III. ATC Clearances And Procedures | Compliance with clearances; holding | Flight |
| IV. Flight By Reference To Instruments | Instrument flight; recovery from unusual attitudes | Flight |
| V. Navigation Systems | Intercepting and tracking courses and DME arcs; departure, en route and arrival | Flight |
| VI. Instrument Approach Procedures | Non-precision; precision; missed; circling; landing from an approach | Flight |
| VII. Emergency Operations | Loss of communications; approach with loss of primary flight instrument indicators | Oral and flight |
| VIII. Postflight Procedures | Checking instruments and equipment | After landing |
For each Task the examiner must test anything you missed on the knowledge test, at least one knowledge and one risk management element, and every skill element, usually inside scenarios. An aviation training device cannot be used for the practical test, so the flight happens in the airplane.
Pass, and you leave with a temporary certificate. Fail one Task and you fail that Area, with a Notice of Disapproval. Under 14 CFR 61.43(f) you keep credit for the Areas you passed if you finish within 60 days, and 61.49 requires more training and an instructor's endorsement before the retest.
Before The Oral: Eligibility, Endorsements And The Aircraft Logs
The examiner checks eligibility before asking a single question, and paperwork ends more checkrides than flying does. 14 CFR 61.65 and 61.39 set the list.
| Requirement | What It Takes |
|---|---|
| Certificate | At least a private pilot certificate in the airplane category |
| Knowledge test | Passed within the 24 calendar months before the month of the checkride; test IRA is 60 questions, 2 hours, 70 percent to pass |
| Cross-country | 50 hours as pilot in command, 10 of them in airplanes |
| Instrument time | 40 hours actual or simulated, 15 of them from an authorized instrument instructor |
| Recent training | 3 hours of instrument training in an airplane within 2 calendar months of the test |
| The long IFR cross-country | With an instructor, on a filed flight plan: 250 NM along airways or ATC routing, an approach at each airport, three different kinds of approach |
| Endorsements | Practical test readiness, including the subject areas you missed on the knowledge test |
| Medical | At least a third-class medical certificate, where one is required |
The airplane has its own list. The static system, altimeter and altitude reporting system need a test within 24 calendar months under 14 CFR 91.411, and the transponder the same under 91.413. If you will use a VOR, it needs a check logged within the last 30 days under 91.171, with the date, place, bearing error and a signature. Our own maintenance shop keeps the records, so ask to see the entries a week before, not on the morning.
The Oral: Weather, Regulations, Charts, Approaches, Lost Comms And 91.175
Most instrument orals run on one spine: the cross-country the examiner assigned. ACS Task I.C asks you to prepare, present and explain that plan, including a risk analysis based on real-time weather, fuel and time calculations, and a simulated filing. A computer-generated plan is acceptable, but you must be able to say where every number came from.
Weather and planning come first. Under 14 CFR 91.169 you need no alternate if the destination forecast shows at least a 2,000-foot ceiling and 3 miles from one hour before to one hour after arrival. Otherwise the standard alternate minimums are 600 and 2 with a precision approach, 800 and 2 without. Fuel under 91.167 covers the destination, the alternate and 45 minutes at normal cruise.
Currency comes up every time: six approaches, holding and course tracking within 6 calendar months under 61.57(c), and an instrument proficiency check under 61.57(d) once you fall more than six months past that. Our page on IFR currency requirements counts the months.
Lost communications is ACS Task VII.A, and 14 CFR 91.185 is the answer. Route: the last assigned, the direct route to the fix in a vector clearance, the route you were told to expect, or the filed route, in that order. Altitude: the highest of the last assigned, the minimum IFR altitude and the altitude you were told to expect. Then leave the clearance limit using the expect-further-clearance time or your estimated arrival time.
Charts close the circle. Brief a plate top to bottom, including the minimum sector altitude, then explain 91.175(c): a position for a normal descent, the flight visibility and a listed visual reference. With only the approach lights in sight, you stop at 100 feet above the touchdown zone unless the red terminating or side row bars are visible too. The full rule is on our FAR 91.175 page.
Four questions in the examiner's style, each answerable from this page:
- "The destination forecast shows 1,500 overcast at your arrival time. Do you need an alternate, and what weather must it have?"
- "Your VOR check was 34 days ago. Can you fly the VOR-A at Van Nuys today under IFR?"
- "You lose the radio after a vector to the final approach course. What route and altitude do you fly?"
- "At decision altitude you see the approach lights and nothing else. How low can you go?"
The Flight: Holds, Approaches, Partial Panel And Unusual Attitudes
Appendix 3 of the ACS spells out the approach mix. You fly at least two different non-precision approaches in simulated or actual instrument conditions. At least one includes a course reversal, such as a procedure turn or a hold in lieu of one. At least one starts from an initial approach fix without the autopilot and without radar vectors. One is flown on backup or partial-panel instrumentation, which is also Task VII.D. Then a precision approach to decision altitude, using the airplane's own centerline and vertical guidance. If the airplane has an IFR-approved RNAV system, you must show you can fly an approach with it.
| Task | Standard |
|---|---|
| IV.A Instrument flight | Altitude ±100 ft, heading ±10°, airspeed ±10 kt, bank ±5° in turns |
| IV.B Unusual attitudes | Recover promptly to stabilized level flight |
| III.B Holding | Altitude ±100 ft, airspeed ±10 kt, headings ±10°, course within three-quarter scale |
| V.A Tracking and DME arcs | Altitude ±100 ft, airspeed ±10 kt, headings ±5°, three-quarter scale, arc ±1 NM |
| VI.A Non-precision approach | Three-quarter scale on final, airspeed ±10 kt, MDA +100/−0 ft |
| VI.B Precision approach | Vertical and lateral guidance within three-quarter scale from the final approach fix to DA, airspeed ±10 kt |
| VI.C Missed approach | Airspeed ±10 kt, heading or course ±10°, altitude ±100 ft |
| VI.D Circling approach | Altitude +100/−0 ft until leaving MDA, airspeed ±10 kt, no more than 30° of bank to land |
At decision altitude on the precision approach, the ACS wants an immediate missed approach unless the required visual references are unmistakably visible. You bring the view-limiting device, and it must not restrict the examiner's view of traffic. Foggles are free on our lessons, so train in the pair you will wear on the day.
The October 2026 charts give an examiner plenty nearby. Van Nuys has two ILS approaches to Runway 16R and three circling procedures. Camarillo has RNAV and VOR approaches, Oxnard an ILS or LOC plus RNAV and VOR, and Whiteman RNAV and a VOR-A. Our guide to instrument approach types explains each kind, and holding patterns covers entries and wind.
Cross-Country Planning The Examiner Expects
Treat the assigned trip as a real flight. In our Warrior that means about 128 knots in cruise, fuel and climb figures from that airframe's POH, and a weight and balance with the examiner on board. File a route the system would actually give you.
Around Los Angeles, terrain sets the tone. The Valley is walled by the Santa Monica, Santa Susana and San Gabriel mountains, so know the minimum IFR altitude on every leg. It is also your lost-communication altitude.
The marine layer shapes the alternate. On a June morning the coast can be low IFR while the Valley is clear, so a coastal destination may need an inland alternate. The examiner wants to hear how you expect the stratus to behave at your arrival time. In winter the question becomes the freezing level and how close the cloud tops are to it. A Warrior has no approved ice protection, so the honest answer to forecast icing in one is that the flight does not go.
Common Failure Points And How To Avoid Them
The ACS lists the grounds for an unsatisfactory: consistently exceeding the tolerances, failing to take prompt corrective action when a tolerance is exceeded, and failing to manage risk. It also grades checklist use throughout. In practice those show up as a few habits.
Briefing the wrong approach. The name is printed at the top and bottom of every chart, and an ILS Y briefed as an ILS Z wastes the briefing.
Descending early. On a non-precision approach, each step-down altitude is normally a floor until you pass the next fix, and MDA is +100/−0. Leaving MDA without the visual references in 91.175 is the fastest way to end the flight.
Not identifying the navaid. Tune it, listen to the Morse code, then fly it.
A late missed approach. At DA or the missed approach point the decision is immediate, so rehearse the first three actions of the published missed until they are automatic.
Partial panel surprises. The examiner covers or fails instruments and watches whether you notice, accept it and fly the backup instruments without chasing them. Fly partial-panel approaches until they bore you.
Paperwork. A knowledge test result about to expire, a missing endorsement, a VOR check older than 30 days, or the 3 hours in an airplane falling outside the 2 calendar months before the test. All of it can be checked a week out.
What To Bring, Fees And Scheduling In Southern California
| Item | Why The Examiner Needs It |
|---|---|
| Photo ID, pilot certificate and medical | Identity and eligibility, before anything else |
| Logbook with every endorsement | The 61.65(d) hours and the readiness endorsements |
| Knowledge test report | Proof of a pass, and the ACS codes the examiner must test |
| Completed IACRA application | No temporary certificate can be issued without it |
| Aircraft documents, POH and maintenance records | Airworthiness, plus the 91.411, 91.413 and 91.171 entries |
| Assigned cross-country plan and current charts | The spine of the oral and the first leg of the flight |
| View-limiting device and headset | The applicant provides the device under the ACS |
| The examiner's fee | Paid directly to the examiner, in the form they specify |
The money outside the course is predictable. The examiner's fee is roughly $800–$1,000 in Southern California, paid to the examiner on the day and charged again on a retest. The knowledge test is roughly $175 at the testing center. The Warrior for the flight is $179 an hour inside a package or $269 pay-as-you-go. Our page on DPE checkride fees in Southern California explains why the wait for a slot runs to weeks.
Book the examiner before you finish, keep flying while you wait, and keep the date movable. Low cloud that would cancel a private checkride may not cancel an instrument one, but thunderstorms and icing still stop it, and the examiner has the final say. If the day is discontinued, the Areas already passed carry forward for 60 days.
How The Redbird MCX Hours Prepare You
14 CFR 61.65(i) lets you credit up to 20 hours of instrument time in an approved advanced aviation training device, given by an authorized instructor. Our Redbird MCX is one, the only full-motion simulator at Van Nuys Airport, and our instrument rating package uses all 20 of those hours. The package is $11,700: 20 hours in the airplane, 20 in the simulator, 40 hours of dual and 10 of ground, or $2,500 down and four payments of $2,300.
The simulator earns its place on the Tasks that sink applicants. An instructor can fail the attitude indicator halfway down final, reposition you to the initial approach fix in seconds, and hand you a lost-communication scenario at the worst moment. It cannot stand in for the checkride or for the 3 hours in an airplane that 61.65(d) requires, and it does not recreate the inner-ear illusions of real cloud. So the last weeks happen in the airplane, ideally on a marine-layer morning.
A full mock checkride a week or two out is worth the money: an assigned cross-country, an oral on it, then the flight profile in the airplane. A simulator hour is $120 inside a package, and a single $189 session is open to anyone who wants to try it first.
Related Reading
- Instrument rating in Los Angeles, the course, the price and the marine layer.
- The instrument written and the ACS, how the knowledge test feeds the oral.
- The FAA checkride: what to expect, the shape of the day and the three ways it can end.
- DPE checkride fees in Southern California, who sets the fee and how to shorten the wait.
- Holding patterns, entries, timing, speeds and wind correction.
- FAR 91.175 explained, what you must see to go below minimums.
Instrument Checkride FAQ
How Long Does The Instrument Checkride Take?
Most of a day. The examiner checks eligibility, runs the oral around your assigned cross-country, then flies the profile with you. The test is complete only when every Area of Operation has been passed.
What Approaches Are Flown On The Instrument Checkride?
At least two different non-precision approaches, one with a course reversal, one from an initial approach fix without autopilot or vectors, and one on partial panel. Add a precision approach to decision altitude, plus the missed, circling and landing Tasks.
Can You Use A Simulator For The Instrument Checkride?
Not an aviation training device: the ACS says one cannot be used for a practical test, so the flight is in the airplane. Up to 20 hours of the training can still be credited in an approved advanced device under 14 CFR 61.65(i).
What Happens If You Fail Part Of The Instrument Checkride?
You receive a Notice of Disapproval for the failed Area. Under 14 CFR 61.43(f), you keep credit for the Areas you passed if you finish within 60 days, after extra training and an instructor endorsement under 61.49.
How Much Does The Instrument Checkride Cost?
The examiner's fee is roughly $800–$1,000 in Southern California, paid directly to the examiner. Add the airplane for the flight, a Warrior at $179 an hour inside a package, and roughly $175 earlier for the knowledge test.
What Does The Examiner Ask On The Instrument Oral?
Weather and alternates under 91.169, fuel under 91.167, currency under 61.57(c), IFR equipment and inspections, lost communications under 91.185 and descent below minimums under 91.175. Every subject coded on your knowledge test report comes up too.
Get Checkride Ready At Van Nuys
If you are close to the checkride, book a free consultation and bring your logbook. An instructor will check your hours against 61.65, look at your knowledge test report and tell you honestly what is left. Not a pilot yet? A 60-minute discovery flight is $229 in a Piper Warrior, flown by you from the left seat and credited in full if you enroll within 24 hours.
Book A Discovery Flight — $229 Book A Free Consultation Call (818) 330-1318
