IFR currency requirements: 14 CFR 61.57(c) and (d), with a worked example

What has to be logged

§ 61.57(c)(1) lists three tasks. All must be performed and logged in actual weather conditions, or in simulated conditions using a view-limiting device, in the category of aircraft for the instrument privileges you want to keep.

1. Six instrument approaches.
2. Holding procedures and tasks. No number is given.
3. Intercepting and tracking courses through the use of navigational electronic systems.

§ 61.57(c)(2) lets you do any of them in a full flight simulator, flight training device or aviation training device that represents the aircraft category, in any combination with the aircraft. Gliders have their own hours-based requirement in § 61.57(c)(3).

How the six-month window counts

The window is the 6 calendar months preceding the month of the flight. The current month does not count, and every task done any day in the oldest month counts in full.

Example: the last of the six approaches, holding and tracking were logged on March 15, 2026.

The tasks do not have to be done on one flight. Each one stays valid until it ages out of the window, so pilots who fly approaches regularly roll their currency forward month by month.

After currency lapses

Once you are past the window, you may not act as pilot in command under IFR or in weather below VFR minimums. You can still log the tasks in simulated conditions with a safety pilot, under the separate rules for simulated instrument flight in § 91.109(c), or with an instructor or in a training device.

§ 61.57(d)(1) sets the limit. A pilot who has failed to meet the requirements of paragraph (c) for more than six calendar months may restore currency only through an instrument proficiency check. The check covers the areas of operation in the Airman Certification Standards for the rating held. It is given in an aircraft of the right category or, other than for gliders, in a representative full flight simulator or flight training device.

Exceptions

§ 61.57(e) exempts some pilots flying for Part 121, 125 and 135 operators who meet those parts’ own recency rules. Pilots flying under Part 91 alone should assume none of the exceptions apply.