Instrument Currency Explained: What Counts, What Doesn’t, and When You Need an IPC

Instrument currency is one of those topics that sounds simple until you try to apply it to a real logbook.

Most pilots remember some version of “six approaches in six months.” That is a useful starting point, but it leaves out enough detail to cause problems. Which six months count? Does an approach flown in visual conditions count? Do you need six holds too? What if you are one month late? When does an instrument proficiency check actually become mandatory?

I have heard all of those questions from students, and most of the confusion comes from trying to turn the rule into one short sentence. The real answer is still manageable. We just need to slow down, separate the pieces, and keep legal currency distinct from actual proficiency.

This discussion focuses on the common Part 91 airplane situation. Certain operations have separate exceptions and approved programs, so always check the rules that apply to your specific flight.

What Does “Instrument Current” Actually Mean?

An instrument rating does not expire. Instrument currency does.

That distinction matters. If your instrument currency lapses, the rating stays on your pilot certificate. You have not lost the rating and you do not need to take another practical test. You simply cannot act as pilot in command under IFR or in weather conditions below the minimums prescribed for VFR until you reestablish currency.

For most instrument-rated airplane pilots, 14 CFR § 61.57(c) says that, within the six calendar months preceding the month of the flight, you must have performed and logged:

• Six instrument approaches

• Holding procedures and tasks

• Intercepting and tracking courses through the use of navigational electronic systems

All of that must be completed in actual instrument conditions, simulated instrument conditions using a view-limiting device, an approved simulator or training device, or an allowed combination of those methods.

Notice what the rule does not say. It does not say “six approaches and six holds.” It requires six approaches, plus holding and intercepting and tracking tasks. It also does not require six different types of approaches.

I prefer 66-HIT as the memory aid:

• 6 instrument approaches

• Within the preceding 6 calendar months

• Holding procedures and tasks

• Intercepting courses through electronic navigation systems

• Tracking courses through electronic navigation systems

That second six is important because it reminds us that the approaches and the other required tasks must fit within the proper six-calendar-month window. It still does not mean six holds. As useful as the mnemonic is, remember that it is only a way to recall the rule. It is not the regulation itself.

How Do Calendar Months Work?

Instrument currency is based on calendar months, not a rolling count of exact days.

Suppose you complete your sixth approach and the remaining required tasks on August 15, 2026. August is the month of completion. Your experience may be used to satisfy the rule through the last day of February 2027.

Period	Your status	What it means
August 15, 2026 through February 28, 2027	Current	You may act as PIC under IFR or in conditions below VFR minimums, assuming all other requirements are met.
March 1 through August 31, 2027	Not current	You may not act as PIC under IFR or below VFR minimums, but you may still regain currency by completing the missing § 61.57(c) experience legally.
September 1, 2027 and later	IPC required	After failing to meet the requirements for more than six calendar months, you may reestablish currency only by completing an IPC.

That middle period is sometimes called a grace period. I do not like that phrase because it sounds as though the FAA is giving you permission to keep flying IFR for six more months. It is better to think of it as a recovery period. You are already not current. The difference is that an IPC is not required yet.

This is also why the exact day of the month usually does not help you. Completing the requirements on August 1 and August 31 produces the same calendar-month result.

What Makes an Instrument Approach Count?

This is where “I flew six approaches” can become less clear than it sounds.

The basic standard is that you must fly the approach while operating solely by reference to instruments. The FAA’s InFO 15012, Logging Instrument Approach Procedures gives more detail about what that means.

For a normal approach to count, the pilot should fly the required portions of the published procedure and remain in actual or simulated instrument conditions to the applicable minimum descent altitude or decision altitude or height. When ATC vectors you onto an approach, you do not need to invent a way to fly the segments ATC removed. A properly flown vectored approach may still be logged.

Here are the situations that cause the most confusion:

An IFR clearance in VMC

Filing IFR and receiving an IFR clearance does not automatically make the approach count toward instrument currency. If the flight remains in visual conditions and you are not using a view-limiting device, you are not operating solely by reference to instruments.

You may be flying an instrument procedure, but you are not necessarily logging an instrument approach for § 61.57(c).

A simulated instrument approach

If you are under the hood, the simulated instrument conditions normally need to continue to the applicable minimums. Looking outside early because the runway is easy to see defeats the purpose and may prevent the approach from counting.

The FAA does recognize that safety comes first. If the view-limiting device must come off after the final approach fix to avoid a traffic conflict or another legitimate hazard, InFO 15012 explains that the approach may still be logged. That is an exception for an unexpected safety issue, not a reason to remove the hood early on every approach.

An approach in actual instrument conditions

The ceiling does not have to be exactly at minimums. If you fly the required portions of the procedure in actual instrument conditions and then transition to visual conditions on the final segment before or at minimums, the approach may still count. Remaining in instrument conditions and flying the missed approach is the other possible outcome.

The missed approach

The missed approach segment is not required merely to log the instrument approach. That does not mean it should be ignored.

One thing I tell my students is that a missed approach is easiest to understand in the briefing and hardest to improvise at minimums. If every currency session ends with six landings, it may satisfy the approach count while leaving one of the most demanding parts of instrument flying untouched.

Repeating the same approach

The regulation does not require six different approaches. Six properly flown ILS approaches can meet the numerical requirement if the holding and intercepting and tracking tasks are also completed.

Legally, that may work. From a proficiency standpoint, it is thin. A better session might include an ILS or LPV, a nonprecision approach, a missed approach, a hold, some hand flying, and realistic avionics or communication failures. The goal should be to practice the kind of flying you actually intend to do.

Do You Need a Safety Pilot?

You need a safety pilot when you are flying an aircraft in simulated instrument conditions with a view-limiting device. The safety pilot is a required crewmember because the pilot under the hood cannot adequately see and avoid other traffic.

Under 14 CFR § 91.109(c), the safety pilot must at least hold a private pilot certificate with category and class ratings appropriate to the aircraft. The aircraft must have the required control arrangement, and the safety pilot must have adequate forward and side vision or a competent observer must supplement that view.

The pilot flying and the safety pilot should decide before takeoff who will act as PIC. That decision affects responsibility, required qualifications, and how each pilot may log the flight. A safety pilot is not automatically the PIC just because that pilot is watching for traffic.

I covered that distinction in more detail in Safety Pilot Logging Explained What You Can Log and Why. For this discussion, remember two points:

• If a safety pilot is required, record that person’s name in your logbook.

• Brief PIC responsibility, control transfer, traffic calls, and when the hood comes on and off before the flight.

If the flying is conducted in actual instrument conditions, the other pilot is not serving as a safety pilot under § 91.109(c). A noncurrent pilot also cannot simply launch into actual conditions as PIC to regain currency. Another properly qualified and current pilot would need to be the legal PIC, and the crew needs to understand exactly what each pilot is doing and logging.

Can a Simulator or Training Device Count?

Yes, but the word approved does a lot of work in that sentence.

Section 61.57(c)(2) allows the required instrument experience to be completed in a full flight simulator, flight training device, or aviation training device that represents the appropriate aircraft category. You may also use a combination of aircraft and approved devices.

Do not assume that a home simulator, desktop software, or any device with a realistic instrument panel qualifies. An aviation training device needs FAA approval, and its Letter of Authorization, usually called the LOA, states what credit the device may provide. FAA AC 61-136B explains the approval and logging framework for Basic and Advanced Aviation Training Devices.

For instrument recency experience in an approved device, § 61.51(g)(5) requires the log or training record to identify the device, the time, and the content of the session. The current regulation does not require an instructor to be present solely for an instrument recency session in an approved device. The device’s LOA and operating requirements still apply.

An IPC is different. A Basic Aviation Training Device cannot be used for any portion of an airplane IPC. An Advanced Aviation Training Device may be used for much of one if its LOA permits it, but the current Instrument Rating – Airplane ACS requires the circling approach, landing task, and applicable multiengine tasks to be completed in an aircraft or qualifying full flight simulator. In other words, do not assume that a device capable of maintaining currency can also complete an entire IPC.

What Should Go in Your Logbook?

The required experience does not help you if you cannot show that you performed and logged it.

Under 14 CFR § 61.51(g), instrument time may be logged only for the time you operate the aircraft solely by reference to instruments in actual or simulated instrument conditions. For instrument currency, the entry must include the location and type of each approach. If a safety pilot was required, the entry must include that pilot’s name.

A useful entry might look like this:

KAAA-KBBB-KAAA. 1.2 simulated instrument. ILS RWY 18 KBBB, RNAV (GPS) RWY 36 KAAA, holding at ABC VOR, intercepting and tracking VOR and GPS courses. Safety pilot: John Pilot.

The exact format is not sacred. The entry should make it easy to answer the important questions later.

Item	What to record
Instrument approaches	Location and type of each approach
Simulated instrument flight in an aircraft	Simulated instrument time and the safety pilot’s name
Holding and course work	Enough detail to show holding plus intercepting and tracking were completed
Approved training device	Device type and identification, time, and session content

I also recommend recording the runway, whether the approach was actual or simulated, and any missed approach or unusual procedure you practiced. Those details are not all separately required by the currency rule, but they make the logbook more useful than a bare entry that says “six approaches.”

What Happens When You Are No Longer Current?

The first consequence is simple: you may not act as PIC under IFR or in weather below VFR minimums.

You can still fly VFR if you meet the other applicable requirements. You can also use the next six calendar months to regain instrument currency by completing the required approaches, holding, and intercepting and tracking tasks.

Common legal ways to do that include:

• Flying simulated instrument approaches in VMC with a qualified safety pilot

• Using an approved simulator or aviation training device within its authorization

• Flying with an appropriately qualified instructor

• In some cases, flying in actual instrument conditions while another qualified, instrument-current pilot legally acts as PIC

That last option deserves careful planning. Logging PIC and acting as PIC are different concepts. Before using that arrangement, both pilots should verify ratings, currency, aircraft requirements, insurance expectations, and exactly who has final authority and responsibility for the flight.

The cleaner answer for most pilots is a hood flight with a qualified safety pilot, an approved device session, or time with a CFII. If instrument skills have been sitting unused for months, time with an instructor is usually the better choice even when the regulation does not yet require an IPC.

When Do You Actually Need an IPC?

Under 14 CFR § 61.57(d), an IPC becomes mandatory after you have failed to meet the instrument-experience requirements for more than six calendar months.

An IPC is not simply “go fly six approaches with an instructor.” It is a proficiency evaluation built around the required areas of operation and tasks in the applicable instrument ACS or PTS. For an airplane IPC, Appendix A to Part 61 currently points to the Instrument Rating – Airplane ACS,

The ACS requires tasks involving navigation systems, holding, instrument approaches, missed approaches, emergency operations, and postflight procedures. It also gives the instructor discretion to include additional work needed to determine that the pilot can operate safely across a realistic range of IFR conditions. The FAA’s active AC 61-98E recommends a scenario-based check that includes both knowledge and flight skills.

There is no universal one-hour IPC. A pilot who flies instruments regularly but missed the calendar window may need less preparation than a pilot who has not flown IFR in several years. The instructor signs the IPC endorsement only after the pilot demonstrates the required standard.

For the typical general aviation airplane pilot, the person giving the IPC will be an appropriately qualified instrument flight instructor. The regulation also authorizes certain examiners, military evaluators, company check pilots, and other FAA-approved persons. A satisfactory IPC is documented with the proper logbook endorsement. If more training is needed, the instructor logs the training received rather than entering a failed IPC endorsement.

Currency Is Not the Same as Proficiency

This is the part that matters most once the calendar math is finished.

A pilot can be legally current after completing six approaches in a familiar airplane, in good weather, with an autopilot doing most of the work. That does not automatically prepare the pilot for a low ceiling at night, turbulence in the clouds, a last-minute approach change, or an avionics failure.

One thing I tell my students is that currency answers a legal question. Proficiency answers an operational one.

Before an actual IFR flight, ask yourself:

• When did I last fly in actual instrument conditions?

• Have I recently hand flown an approach, or have I relied mostly on automation?

• Can I load, activate, modify, and brief an approach without falling behind the airplane?

• Have I practiced a missed approach, hold, partial-panel situation, or lost-communications scenario recently?

• Are the forecast ceiling, visibility, wind, icing risk, and convective risk within my personal limits?

• Would I be comfortable flying this trip at night, when tired, or with passengers depending on me?

The FAA encourages pilots to build personal currency programs that go beyond the regulatory minimums. I agree with that approach. Six approaches completed on the last possible day may make the logbook legal, but a regular schedule of realistic practice makes the pilot useful in the system.

Final Thought

Instrument currency is easier to manage when you stop treating it as a single deadline.

Track the six approaches, holding work, and intercepting and tracking tasks as separate items. Use calendar months correctly. Log enough detail to prove what you did. If you fall out of currency, remember that the next six months are a chance to regain it, not permission to keep acting as PIC under IFR. After that window closes, complete an IPC with someone authorized to give it.

Most importantly, do not let a current logbook convince you that your skills are sharper than they are. The regulation sets the floor. Your passengers, the weather, and the airplane may ask for considerably more.

The regulations and FAA guidance linked in this article were reviewed in August 2026. Always check the current eCFR and the authorization for any training device before relying on a citation or logging device time.