I am getting a BFR today. In my 22 years as a pilot I have never had to get one before.

SKyHigh

 

Good luck SkyHigh, and thank you for expressing your opinions and experiences here. What aircraft will you be in?

Mike

 

I will be in a Cessna 172. It has been ten years since really flew any smaller planes. It should be fun. My wife is scared. She hates small planes. Well to be fair she also hates bigger ones too.

SkyHigh

 

Put an unknown CFI in there and the most routine currency flight becomes dreadful. It still galls me that insurance companies have the nerve to require FBOs to do 3 hour checkouts to endorse recent, amply experienced pilots.

Currently I am in luck because our chief pilot could care less about the hoopla and signs us off for the asking.

 

I am not into a lengthy sign off but I would like to have a good brush up. It has been a long time since I flew small planes.

SkyHigh

 

Just got through reading through FAR 61.56a2 which reads that a review is needed

"of those maneuvers and procedures that, at the discretion of the person giving the review, are necessary for the pilot to demonstrate the safe exercise of the privileges of the pilot certificate."

Q: What standards will you be held to? Do you have to demonstrate instrument procedures, commercial procedures, private procedures...how does all that work for a guy w/your experience?

Mike

 

A BFR is a biannual flight review which is waived if you take any sort of checkride within the two year period and covers only vfr flying. Commercial checks would be outlined per the applicable "Part" of the Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations the type of flight falls under like Part 121 airline, Part 135 freight. An IPC is an instrument proficiency check and it covers only ifr flying skills. Neither has any hard metrics to satisfy other than the FAA regs, but if you do not appear to know what you are doing the instructor has the right to require more training. If you have a rigorous instructor then they may require PTS standards for your BFR but most do not. For the IPC there are a lot of things to err on, but if you do not make glaring errors and or catch the one or two you do make and correct most will still sign you off. Also, IPC's are not required for those who maintain continuous instrument currency.

My guess is Skyhigh needs his BFR and an IPC due to being out of line-holding for a while. If you fly a line you get line checked and since all Part 121 is ifr and you never run out of recency as long as you do it.

 

Sky, I'd suggest brushing up on the regs. A lot has changed in 10 years. That's one of the places I always start when a pilot hasn't flown in a long time. After that, the biggest thing I find when people haven't flown in a long time isn't the stick and rudder work. That seems to be much like riding a bicycle. It's the communications and avionics that give the most trouble. Being a 121 guy should help in that aspect as well. You really don't need the GPS and all that stuff but most people wanted to spend a little time with it. I hook up a powercart and give the demonstration on the ground so they aren't paying for the airplane too.

I find that a BFRs usually last about 3-4 hours total for me to be comfortable when the pilot had recent time. Most of that was on the ground.

 

Yet another way the FBO / FBO CFI cabal take people for a ride. Its another nail in the GA coffin.

-LAFF

 

I flew a plane today for the first time in two years !! It was hard but I concealed my fear and anxiety. My BFR is complete. Now to terrorise the skies...

Skyhigh