Maintaining IFR proficiency
As an instrument-rated pilot, maintaining currency is a legal obligation. We’re all familiar with the basics of the requirement:
(i) At least six instrument approaches;
(ii) Holding procedures; and
(iii) Intercepting and tracking courses through the use of navigation systems.
…within the preceding six months. You see this section of FAR Part 61.57 quoted in many aviation magazine articles that discuss the topic.
Something you DON’T see mentioned very often is the requirement that the aforementioned maneuvers be performed under either simulated or actual instrument conditions.
As you know, I try to get in a flight nearly every weekend. I fly instrument approaches quite frequently (on average, about two to three a month). I discovered, however, that looking back at my logbook I just barely satisfied this legal currency requirement because so many of my approaches occurred in visual meterological conditions!
Up till now we’ve just been talking about legal obligations. But what about the obligation for you to maintain proficiency? What does that word imply, anyway? A quick peek at the dictionary reveals…
proficiency
n 1: the quality of having great facility and competence 2: skillfulness in the command of fundamentals deriving from practice and familiarity
Are you proficient in your instrument flying? Do you have great facility and competence when you’re poking holes through clouds? Does your instrument flying reflect a command of fundamentals derived from practice and familiarity?
If the answer is anything but YES it is time to enlist the aid of a safety pilot so that you can experience and log time flying the airplane on instruments only. Even better, call up your CFI and get an Instrument Proficiency Check(IPC) which will reset the clock on your legal currency and increase your safety in the air.
