The flight review

What you must know

Sometimes, when the clocks spin forward or are turned back or another year passes, it reminds us to check certain annual or semiannual things, such as changing the batteries in smoke detectors or rotating the tires on the car. For pilots, a change into a new year can signal a reminder to check when our next flight review is needed. A flight review is required every two years, and because two years can sometimes fly by, so to speak, the passage of another calendar year is a good time to check.

If you are a student pilot, you do not have to meet the requirement for a flight review if you are undergoing training for a pilot certificate and you have a current solo flight endorsement. However, you may be asked about the requirements for a flight review, such as when it must be accomplished and how it must be accomplished, on the knowledge test or during the oral portion of your private pilot checkride. And, after you've passed the checkride, the requirement for a flight review is one you will need to remember.

The requirement is set out in FAR 61.56, and it generally requires that no person may act as pilot in command of an aircraft unless, since the beginning of the twenty-fourth calendar month before the month in which that pilot acts as pilot in command, that person has accomplished a flight review given in an aircraft for which that pilot is rated by an authorized instructor; and a logbook has been endorsed by an authorized instructor who gave the review.

The flight review usually takes place with a flight instructor in a session that must consist of at least one hour of flight training and one hour of ground training. It must include a review of the general operating and flight rules of Part 91 and a review of maneuvers and procedures necessary to show that the pilot may safely exercise the privileges of the airman certificate held.

Beyond these specific requirements, the matter is left to the discretion of the person conducting the flight review. It is up to the reviewer whether the requirement for a flight review can be met in combination with other recent experience requirements, such as a rental checkout in a new model of aircraft or an instrument competency check--or whether attendance at an appropriate seminar could satisfy the ground training requirement. Any aircraft for which the pilot and the reviewer are rated is acceptable. However, both portions need to fall within the preceding 24 calendar months of the month in which the flight is taking place, and both portions have to be logged.

Note that the regulation requires that the review have been accomplished within the preceding 24 calendar months before the month in which the flight is taking place. Since the word calendar is used, the flight review does not have to be accomplished within the number of days it takes to add up to 24 months. Rather, the review requirement will have been met for two years following the last day of the month in which the pilot took the flight review.

The flight review requirement can be met by passing and logging a pilot proficiency flight check, such as your private pilot checkride or an instrument rating or multiengine rating checkride. Also, you can satisfy the requirement by satisfactorily accomplishing one or more phases of an FAA-sponsored pilot proficiency award program, also known as the Wings program. Flight instructors can forego the one hour of ground training if they have satisfactorily completed a renewal of their flight instructor certificate. And, glider pilots can substitute a minimum of three qualifying instructional flights in a glider for the one hour of flight training.

A flight simulator or flight training device may be used to meet the flight review requirements, but it must meet certain conditions. The flight simulator or flight training device must be used in accordance with an approved course conducted by a Part 142 training center. Unless the simulator is approved for landings, the pilot must otherwise fulfill the required three takeoffs and landings within the preceding 90 days for carrying passengers. And, the flight simulator or flight training device must represent an aircraft or set of aircraft for which the pilot is rated.

Logging and keeping accurate track of your flight review and all recent experience is important to meeting the regulatory requirements for acting as PIC. It is always a good practice to make entries in your logbook right after the flight or training has taken place, especially if an endorsement from an instructor or examiner is necessary. Remember, the regulations require that the recent experience be logged before you act as PIC.

Kathy Yodice is an attorney with Yodice Associates in Washington, D.C., which provides legal counsel to AOPA and administers AOPA's legal services plan. She is an instrument-rated private pilot.