What is required for IFR currency?

Under 61.57(c), within the preceding six calendar months you must have performed and logged at least six instrument approaches, holding procedures and tasks, and intercepting and tracking courses using navigation systems. If you lapse, you have another six months to regain currency; after that you need an instrument proficiency check (IPC).

How often do I need a flight review?

Under 61.56, a flight review is required within the preceding 24 calendar months to act as pilot in command, unless you've completed a new certificate or rating checkride, a pilot proficiency award program phase, or another qualifying activity in that window.

FAA Pilot Currency Requirements Explained

Q: How many landings do I need to carry passengers?

Under 14 CFR 61.57(a), three takeoffs and three landings within the preceding 90 days, as sole manipulator of the controls, in an aircraft of the same category, class, and type (if a type rating is required). In a tailwheel airplane the landings must be to a full stop.

Q: What is night currency?

Under 61.57(b), to carry passengers between one hour after sunset and one hour before sunrise, you need three takeoffs and three landings to a full stop within the preceding 90 days during that same night period, in the same category, class, and type.

Day, night, and IFR currency, flight reviews, and medicals — what the regulations actually require, in plain English, and how to stop counting backward on a calendar.

Being certificated means you passed the checkride. Being current means you've flown recently enough, in the right conditions, to legally exercise those privileges. The FAA sets the minimums in 14 CFR Part 61, and most of them live in §61.57. Here's what each one means and how to keep track of it.

1. Passenger-carrying currency (§61.57(a))

To act as pilot in command with passengers on board, you need three takeoffs and three landings within the preceding 90 days, as sole manipulator of the controls, in an aircraft of the same category, class, and type (if a type rating is required).

Airplane single-engine land currency does not cover multi-engine or seaplanes.
In a tailwheel airplane, the three landings must be to a full stop.
Solo flight doesn't require this currency. Only passengers do.

2. Night currency (§61.57(b))

Night currency is a separate, stricter requirement. To carry passengers during the period from one hour after sunset to one hour before sunrise, you need three takeoffs and three landings to a full stop within the preceding 90 days, performed during that same night period, in the same category, class, and type.

Common mistake: touch-and-goes don't count toward night currency, and a landing at 30 minutes after sunset doesn't either. It has to be a full-stop landing more than an hour after sunset. Night landings do count toward day currency, though.

3. Instrument (IFR) currency (§61.57(c))

To act as PIC under IFR or in weather below VFR minimums, within the preceding six calendar months you must have performed and logged in the same category of aircraft (or an approved simulator/training device):

At least six instrument approaches
Holding procedures and tasks
Intercepting and tracking courses through the use of navigation systems

Pilots remember this as the "6-6-HIT" rule: six approaches in six months, plus holding, intercepting, and tracking.

The lapse and the IPC

If you don't meet the requirement, you get a second six-month window (§61.57(d)) to regain currency on your own — under VFR, with a safety pilot, or in a simulator. You just can't fly IFR as PIC in the meantime. If that second window closes too, you need an instrument proficiency check (IPC) with an instructor or examiner before you can fly IFR again.

4. Flight review (§61.56)

Every pilot needs a flight review within the preceding 24 calendar months to act as PIC. It's at least one hour of ground and one hour of flight with an authorized instructor. A checkride for a new certificate or rating, or completing a phase of the FAA WINGS program, satisfies the requirement and resets the clock.

"Calendar months" means the review is good through the last day of the month 24 months later. A flight review on March 10 is valid through March 31 two years later.

5. Medical certificates (§61.23)

Your medical isn't currency in the §61.57 sense, but it expires on a schedule and grounds you just as fast. Durations depend on the class and your age when it was issued:

Class	Under 40 at exam	40 and over at exam
First class (ATP privileges)	12 calendar months	6 calendar months
Second class (commercial privileges)	12 calendar months	12 calendar months
Third class (private/recreational)	60 calendar months	24 calendar months

A first- or second-class medical steps down to lower-class privileges after it expires for the higher class, so track the date that matters for how you fly. Many private pilots use BasicMed instead, which runs on a four-year physician exam and a two-year online course.

Currency the FAA doesn't require (but your job might)

Part 61 is the floor. Employers, flight schools, insurance policies, and military units routinely require more: a 90-day night requirement even for cargo, semiannual checkrides, minimum hours in type, mountain or off-airport qualifications, NVG currency. None of these are in the FARs, and none of them care about your FAA status. If you fly for more than one organization, you're tracking more than one rulebook.

Read how to track custom and employer-specific requirements →

Quick reference

Requirement	Window	What counts
Passenger (day)	90 days	3 takeoffs + 3 landings, same category/class/type (full stop in tailwheel)
Passenger (night)	90 days	3 full-stop takeoffs + landings, 1 hr after sunset to 1 hr before sunrise
IFR	6 calendar months	6 approaches + holding + intercepting/tracking
IFR grace period	+6 calendar months	Regain on your own, no IFR as PIC; then IPC required
Flight review	24 calendar months	1 hr ground + 1 hr flight with a CFI, or a qualifying checkride/WINGS phase
Medical	6–60 calendar months	Depends on class and age at exam; or BasicMed

Stop doing the math by hand

Every one of these rules is a rolling window that changes with each flight you log. Most pilots figure out they've lapsed by working backward through a paper logbook the night before a trip. Volara does that math automatically: log a flight, and your day, night, IFR, flight review, and medical status update on a dashboard you can read in five seconds — with reminders before anything expires. Custom requirements from your employer or unit sit right alongside the FAA ones.

Get Volara — always flight ready

This guide is a plain-language summary for educational purposes and is not legal advice. Regulations change; always confirm current requirements in the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations and consult a CFI or the FAA for your specific situation.