An instrument rating develops the knowledge and skills needed for instrument flying. The training focuses on using and trusting instruments, recognising human limitations and managing instrument failures.
Video hosted on YouTube. Open on YouTube ↗
Read the transcript
What is an instrument rating?
Most initial pilot training takes place in VMC: visual meteorological conditions. That means you can see where you're going. You're looking out of the window, spotting towns and following a line. Even when using dead reckoning—calculating that a particular direction and time should take you to a place—the flight is being conducted visually.
The problem, especially in this part of the world, is the weather. Instrument meteorological conditions, or conditions outside VMC, are why you need an instrument rating. It allows you to fly in cloud, climb or descend through cloud, and climb above it.
Instrument training teaches you to rely on your instruments. It teaches you how your body can deceive you, why you need to trust those instruments, and how to handle instrument failures. You're building the core competencies needed to become a proficient pilot.
Imagine getting on an airline and being told it couldn't fly because the weather was a little cloudy. Serious weather problems—large thunderstorms or microbursts, for example—can stop anyone. But the ability to operate in and above cloud is part of why instrument flying matters.
You can add an instrument rating to a Private Pilot Licence or Commercial Pilot Licence, and you need one for an Airline Transport Pilot Licence.
If you need theory for the instrument rating, CPL, ATPL or PPL, the link is below.
