INSTRUMENT PILOT COURSE
An Instrument rating gives a Pilot the ability to fly by reference to instruments only. It makes you a safer pilot and is a required rating by all professional pilots. Our Instrument training course is the next step after you receive your Private Pilot Certificate and can be started after you complete our Private Pilot course.
FAA Instrument Rating Requirements
1. Eligibility Requirements
– Age: You must be at least 17 years old.
– English Proficiency: You must be able to read, speak, write, and understand English.
– Medical Certificate: You must hold at least a third-class medical certificate issued by an FAA-authorized medical examiner.
2. Flight Experience
– Total Flight Time: You must have a minimum of 50 hours of pilot-in-command (PIC) cross-country flight time.
– Instrument Flight Time: You need at least 40 hours of actual or simulated instrument flight time, which must include:
15 Hours of Instrument Training received from an authorized instructor.
– 50 Hours of Cross-Country Flight Time as PIC, including at least one cross-country flight of over 250 nautical miles along airways or by direction of flight, with an approach at each airport and 3 different types of approaches.
3. Training
– Flight Training: You must receive instrument training from an FAA-certified instrument flight instructor. The training will include flying in simulated or actual instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), navigation using instruments, and performing instrument approaches.
4. Knowledge Test
– Written Examination: You must pass a written knowledge test that covers topics related to flying under instrument flight rules (IFR). This test includes questions on instrument navigation, weather theory, and regulations.
5. Practical Test
– Checkride: After meeting the flight experience and training requirements, you must pass a practical test (checkride) with an FAA Designated Pilot Examiner. This includes an oral exam and a flight test demonstrating your ability to operate an aircraft solely by reference to instruments.
Our Instrument Training course will take you through all the necessary requirements and is designed to exceed all the FAA requirements. We work to make your training as efficient as possible to save you money and time. We are partnered with Gold Seal to help you with the Instrment Pilot ground school. The course is designed around interactive video-based lessons and will be completed at home in between flight lessons.
To accelerate your training, we recommend that you build some instrument flight time with a safety pilot and complete your written test prior to enrolling in our course. Having the at least 40 hours of PIC cross-country time and 15-20 hours of simulated instrument time logged before starting the course will cut your training time down significantly.
Get started with the ground school here
Download the quick study guide here.
We have financing options available. We have partnered with Flight Training Finance to help our students get all of their training completed without having to be limited by finances.