Track the Currency Requirements That Actually Apply to You
FAA minimums are the floor. Your employer, your unit, your school, and your insurance company each have their own rulebook. Volara lets you build all of them — and see them on one dashboard.
Most logbook apps track exactly one thing: the Part 61 currency requirements. That's fine for a weekend private pilot. It falls apart the moment you fly for anyone else. A Part 135 operator wants 90-day night landings even for cargo. A flight school wants three landings in 30 days before you solo a student. A Guard unit runs semiannual minimums by readiness level. An insurance policy wants 10 hours in make and model before you carry passengers. None of that is in the FARs, and a logbook that only knows the FARs will happily tell you you're "current" while you're grounded everywhere that matters.
Volara treats currency as something you define, not something the app decides for you.
What you can build
A custom requirement in Volara is any rule of the form "I need X of Y within Z." That covers almost everything a real organization asks for:
| Type | Example |
|---|---|
| Landings | 3 night full-stop landings in 60 days (stricter than the FAA's 90) |
| Approaches | 4 instrument approaches in 90 days for company IFR ops |
| Hours | 10 hours in make and model before carrying passengers (insurance) |
| Events | Semiannual proficiency check, annual line check, recurrent ground school |
| Special qualifications | NVG currency, mountain/off-airport, external load, overwater |
| Documents | Company ID, unit medical, hazmat training certificate, passport |
Requirements can use a rolling window (the last 90 days) or a fixed period (every calendar quarter, every fiscal-year half). Each one can be tagged to the aircraft type, category, or class it applies to.
One dashboard, every rulebook
Requirements are grouped by the organization they belong to. Fly for two outfits and you'll see two sets of currencies side by side — your FAA status, your day job's rules, and your unit's minimums, each updating from the same logbook entries. Pin the ones you check most. Hide the ones you don't. If you leave an employer, archive the group and it stops cluttering the view without deleting the history.
How to set one up
- Add an organization. Create an entry for each employer, school, club, or unit you fly for. "FAA" is already there.
- Define a requirement. Choose what counts (landings, approaches, hours, an event, a document), how many, the window, and which aircraft it applies to. Give it a name you'll recognize on the dashboard.
- Log flights like you always do. Volara reads each entry and updates every requirement it touches. Nothing extra to fill in.
- Watch the dashboard. Green is current, amber is expiring, red is lapsed. Reminders go out before you hit amber, not after you hit red.
Examples pilots use
The two-job helicopter pilot
Flies EMS during the week and tours on weekends. EMS requires NVG currency (3 hours and 3 landings in 60 days) and a quarterly IFR check. The tour operator wants 5 landings in 30 days at the base. Both groups sit under the FAA row on the dashboard; one glance shows which job he's legal for tomorrow.
The CFI at a Part 141 school
The school requires 3 landings in 30 days before instructing in each make and model, plus an annual standardization flight. She builds one requirement per aircraft type and one event, and the dashboard flags the 172 she hasn't flown in five weeks before the schedule does.
The Guard aviator with a civilian ticket
Semiannual hour minimums and NVG events for the unit on one side, FAA night and IFR currency for the personal airplane on the other. Military flights are imported from the unit's spreadsheet; civilian flights are logged directly. Nothing gets double-counted and nothing gets missed.
The private pilot with a new policy
The insurance renewal added a 10-hour make-and-model requirement and 3 landings in 90 days. He builds both, sets the aircraft filter to his Bonanza, and forgets about it until the app reminds him.
Start with the FAA, then build your own
Volara ships with the standard Part 61 requirements already configured. Custom currencies and per-employer requirements are part of Volara Pro. Build what you need, when you need it — and change it when your job changes.