IFR Currency Rules: Six Approaches, Calendar Months and the IPC
14 CFR 61.57 uses six calendar months, not a rolling day count. See when IFR PIC privileges lapse, how currency can be restored and when an IPC is required.
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Updated July 16, 2026
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The familiar shorthand for instrument currency is "six approaches in six months." The actual rule is more precise. It also requires holding procedures and tasks, intercepting and tracking courses with navigational electronic systems, the correct aircraft category, and a logbook record.
Most importantly, the rule uses calendar months. It does not create a six-month period in which a lapsed pilot may continue acting as pilot in command under IFR. Once the recent-experience requirement is not met, the pilot cannot exercise those IFR PIC privileges until currency is re-established.
This guide covers the general 14 CFR 61.57(c) and (d) path for airplanes, powered-lifts, helicopters and airships. Gliders and pilots operating under specified carrier rules have separate provisions in the rule. Check the current regulation and an appropriately qualified instructor for the exact operation.
The 61.57(c) requirement
14 CFR 61.57(c) says a person may act as PIC under IFR or in weather below VFR minimums only if, within the six calendar months preceding the month of the flight, that person performed and logged:
- six instrument approaches;
- holding procedures and tasks; and
- intercepting and tracking courses through the use of navigational electronic systems.
The experience must be completed in the appropriate category for the instrument privileges being maintained. It may be performed in actual weather, under simulated instrument conditions with the required equipment and crew arrangement, in an eligible simulator or training device, or in a permitted combination.
An FAA-qualified device is not automatically usable for every purpose merely because it is called a simulator. The FAA's AC 61-98E directs pilots to the device approval and, for aviation training devices, the applicable letter of authorisation.
How the calendar-month lookback works
Suppose the planned flight is in July. The six preceding calendar months are January through June. A qualifying task logged on any date in January can count for a July flight. When August begins, the lookback shifts to February through July, so the January task drops out.
That produces two practical consequences:
- Currency changes at a month boundary, not exactly 180 days after an approach.
- Counting six approaches alone can still give the wrong answer if holding, intercepting and tracking, logging or category requirements are missing.
A simple logbook dashboard should therefore show the completion date and category for all three required task groups, not only an approach total.
There is no IFR-PIC "grace period"
Pilots often call the next six calendar months a grace period. That label is misleading if it implies continued IFR PIC authority.
If the pilot no longer meets 61.57(c), the pilot may not act as PIC under IFR or in weather below VFR minimums. During the period before an IPC becomes mandatory, the pilot can still regain currency by completing the required tasks through a lawful arrangement, such as an appropriate training device or simulated-instrument flight with the required safety pilot or instructor.
In an aircraft, simulated-instrument practice engages other rules, including 14 CFR 91.109. The safety pilot must meet the rule's qualifications, have adequate forward and side vision, and occupy a control station as required. The crew should agree before flight who is acting as PIC, who may log which time and how responsibilities will transfer. This article is not a substitute for resolving that arrangement against the current rules.
The recovery period is therefore an opportunity to complete the missing experience, not permission to launch into instrument conditions as PIC while out of currency.
When an IPC becomes required
Section 61.57(d) says a person who has failed to meet the instrument-experience requirement for more than six calendar months may re-establish instrument currency only by completing an instrument proficiency check, or IPC.
The check must include the areas of operation contained in the applicable Airman Certification Standards and must be conducted in an eligible aircraft or device for the category. The rule lists who may give the check, including an examiner, an authorised instructor, specified company check pilots and other approved persons.
An IPC is not defined as six approaches with an instructor. It is a proficiency check against the applicable standard. AC 61-98E and the current ACS guide its structure, and the person conducting it determines whether the required performance has been demonstrated.
A worked example
Assume a pilot's last complete set of six approaches, holding and intercepting/tracking was logged in December 2025.
- For a June 2026 flight, the six preceding calendar months are December through May. The December experience is still inside the window.
- For a July 2026 flight, the window is January through June. The December experience has dropped out. Unless newer qualifying experience completes the set, the pilot cannot act as IFR PIC.
- The pilot can use a lawful simulated-instrument or approved-device arrangement to regain the missing experience before the "more than six calendar months" IPC threshold is crossed.
- Once the pilot has failed to meet 61.57(c) for more than six calendar months, an IPC is the restoration path.
Real logbooks often contain partial activity across several months, so count the complete set against the current flight month rather than relying on the date of the sixth approach alone.
What must be logged
14 CFR 61.51 requires the aeronautical experience used to meet recent-experience requirements to be documented. For instrument experience, the record includes the location and type of each instrument approach and the name of a safety pilot when required.
Record the holding and course-intercepting or tracking work clearly as well. A vague entry such as "IFR practice" makes a later currency reconstruction harder than it needs to be.
If a device was used, retain enough information to show the device and use were approved for the claimed credit. The device's letter of authorisation can set conditions that a generic logbook application does not know.
Currency is not proficiency
Section 61.57 sets a minimum recent-experience gate. Six familiar approaches in benign conditions do not necessarily prepare a pilot for a low-weather departure, a hand-flown missed approach, icing avoidance, equipment failure or a high-workload arrival at an unfamiliar airport.
AC 61-98E treats regulatory currency as a floor and encourages pilots and instructors to build training around the pilot's aircraft, recent experience, operating environment and known weak areas.
A practical personal review can include:
- actual versus simulated instrument time;
- recency of hand flying and automation management;
- missed approaches, holds and partial-panel work;
- the navigation and approach equipment in the aircraft to be flown;
- weather and alternate decisions; and
- changes in procedures, databases and cockpit workflow.
Being legally current answers one question. Being prepared for the planned conditions is a separate decision.
A cleaner way to manage IFR currency
At the start of every month:
- Set the six-calendar-month lookback for that month.
- Count qualifying approaches by category.
- Confirm holding and intercepting/tracking tasks are logged.
- Check device approval and safety-pilot records where relevant.
- Identify the first month in which any required item drops out.
- Schedule practice before the lapse, not after an instrument trip appears on the calendar.
If the record is ambiguous or the IPC threshold may have been crossed, resolve it with a qualified instrument instructor before acting as IFR PIC.
