How often to stay sharp?
 

Hey guys, quick question for yuh. How often would you recommend a private pilot to fly a month to stay sharp? I am going to be starting instrument training soon (probably within the next year). However, between now and that time, I have some shorter cross country trips I'd like to take for vacations this summer =).

How often would you recommend a private pilot fly a month to stay sharp?

I was thinking like once a week or once every two weeks doing an hour or two in the pattern. My main concern is that in the NE it's often windy and I want to make sure I keep my cross-wind/windy approach/landing skills sharp.

Flying is no different than any other eye-hand sport, like golf or tennis, the more often you practice, the better you'll get.

So fly as much as you can, especially when you are new to it, more will stick in your brain from one flight to the next, if you can schedule them closer together.

If you can't get up once a week, at least do some T+G's for 30 minutes prior to taking off on a long cross country if it's been awhile since you last flew.

Any nit wit can fly straight and level, day VFR, you don't need to practice that very much. It's the landing that gets sporty, especially in gusty crosswinds in a light aircraft.

When you start doing your instrument training, it's all about the scan. The more you practice that, the better you'll be.

Don't get your IFR ticket and then never practice, because it won't come back to you if you haven't practiced it on a regular basis. Ask Jon-Jon Kennedy about that. Any time you are flying VFR with a passenger to look out for traffic, put on a hood for a little while and practice your instrument scan, and any time you find a runway with an operating ILS, practice flying it.

Not sure I would do this if I were you... Not legal (or wise IMO) to use an unrated passenger to look out for traffic.

Part 91 says you have to be vigilant to "see and avoid" other aircraft. You cannot do this with a hood on.
Part 91 says you can use a Safety Pilot for this, but requires that the safety pilot must hold at least a private pilot certificate. The pilot certificate must have category and class ratings that are appropriate to the aircraft being flown.