To summarize, to apply for an instrument rating, you must: IFR rating requirements can be found in 14 CFR § 61.65 §. The examiner will want to know that you met the requirements and that you understand them. One of the first questions that may come up on your instrument rating checkride may be about flight training requirements. Flight Training Requirements for Instrument Ratingīefore you can take an instrument rating checkride, you must meet certain requirements and have logged certain training. You will learn to stay ahead of the aircraft while managing tasks like changing radio frequencies, programming navigation equipment, and briefing and flying approaches, all while continually scanning your instrument panel. In other words, you’ll be able to fly from Point A to Point B without ever looking out your window (except for your take-off and touch-down). What You Can Do With An Instrument RatingĪn instrument rating will allow you to legally fly without the visual reference of the ground or a horizon. If you will be regularly renting an aircraft, or plan to purchase one, you will most likely enjoy lowered insurance rates once you get an instrument rating. However, if you are pursuing any career in aviation, an instrument rating is a necessary milestone. There really is no downside to getting an instrument rating – just the money and time spent to get it. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) stated that Kennedy’s failure to maintain control of the airplane was the result of spatial disorientation, with haze and the dark night being factors. crashed his Piper Saratoga into the Atlantic Ocean near Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, on July 16, 1999, he did not have an instrument rating.

When pilots cannot see the horizon, spatial disorientation can onset rapidly.

History has shown us that weather-related general aviation accidents are often fatal. Attempting VFR flight in IMC is one of the most consistently deadly decisions or mistakes in all of aviation. Instrument rated pilots will also be equipped with the aeronautical decision skills to stop and think before you get into a situation where you need to use your instrument flying skills. An instrument rating makes every pilot a more knowledgeable, safer pilot.

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