Ready to get back out there and go fly!
So as you probably already know, if you’ve been out of the game for a while, you’re going to need your flight review with an instructor. There are a couple of ways to accomplish your flight review. You could get an additional rating or certificate, such as adding your instrument rating or commercial, or even a seaplane rating. Basically anytime you take a checkride, that counts as a flight review.
If you want to see what you are in for going for your basic Flight Review with an instructor, you can check out the ground and flight portion videos in the topics below.
Remember that while the minimum is 1 hour of ground instruction and 1 hour of flight instruction, even for pilots who fly regularly it usually takes longer. A flight review is not a pass/fail event, it is simply “train to proficiency” meaning you’ll work on the ground and in the air with your instructor until you are both comfortable with your knowledge and ability to receive the endorsement for your flight review. It is also important to note that while all you legally need for a successful flight review is an endorsement, the FAA also now allows you to submit your flight review via IACRA and your instructor can also sign off on it there (in case you lose your logbook or the endorsement, you don’t have to complete another flight review to be legal to fly).
How long does it take?
While there is no set timeframe, and it varies for each student depending on what you want to review on your flight review and what your instructor wants to cover, I can tell you from personal experience that a current pilot flying around 100 hours per year would usually spend 2-3 hours on the ground and 2 hours in flight with me before receiving their signoff for a flight review. For someone who hadn’t flown in 10 years, they might spend 4-5 hours of ground time and 6-8 hours in flight to receive the signoff. Either way, your flight review sign off (endorsement) is permission to go out and fly, practice, and learn more, it does not mean you are necessarily proficient to go take on the world, or do the same sort of flying you “used to do” until you get additional instruction and practice in the airplane.
Questions about your medical?
Not sure what getting your medical renewed is going to look like? Phone a friend at AOPA, there are a lot of resources to help you in that department!
https://www.aopa.org/go-fly/medical-resources