Paul Folbrecht wrote:
So, I passed the ride two weeks ago, with about 45 hours simulated
instrument time and a precious 2.5 hours actual. I flew a couple
practice ILS's two days ago, after an "off-period" of less than two
weeks and already felt a bit rusty, though they went Ok (2nd definitely
better than the first). Oh, it was also an unfamiliar airplane, and I
was in the right seat, which I'd only done a handful of times before.

Anyway, the question I find floating around my head a lot now is just
how much instrument flying, sim or actual, do I need to do to stay
current? Of course I'm not talking about what the regs say - I know
what they say and I know that 6 approaches every 6 months is not likely
to keep me at a level of currency that I'm comfortable with.

I'm looking for input from you guys that have had your rating for awhile
and who do stay current and fly in IMC regularly. What does it take,
realistically, for you to feel proficient and safe flying and shooting
approaches in actual? If you don't get actual time, do you still
regularly practice approaches simulated with a safety pilot? As your
overall time increases, does it take somewhat less flying to maintain
that same level of comfortable currency?


I found that as I gained experience, I found it easier to stay current
and took less effort. After taking a 4 year hiatus and returning just
recently to flying, I'm feeling again like you are now. A month or two
between approaches makes a lot of difference. When I was flying 100
hours a year, I could take a two month break and hardly notice it.


Matt