Hours to obtain IR

How many total hours of simulated + actual instrument time for you to get the IR

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skidoo

skidoo

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skidoo
I was told by one instructor that although the minimum time for the IR is 40 hours, it typically takes 80 hours. Another instructor says the national average time is about 70 hours. So, it got me to wondering what it really took those who obtained the IR.

How many total hours of simulated + actual instrument time did it actually take you to obtain the IR?
 
I don't know where those instructors got their numbers, but they seem way, way high to me. Yes, there are the occasional outliers, like the guy who came to me with 260 hours of instrument training, whom I finished in about 20 more hours. The PIC experience seems to be about 45 hours of instrument time for those with nothing much more than the 3 hours required for PP. Personally, I had 41.4 back in 1971. However, I have not been able to find any FAA stats on actual average times.
 
I had 40.2 of total instrument time* when I took my check ride. I did not use a safety pilot.

* - 3 hours were carried over from private.
 
Mine was mid 50s. My training was done following the Jepp syllabus through part 141. The majority of the flights were supposed to be 1 hour however every flight we took seemed to push 1.3 - 1.7. The extra 1/10ths add up in the end.
 
I had 45 hours at my 141 school (I did it part 61) plus 5.5 from the private and another 10 or so including some actual from doing stuff with other CFIIs before I started "officially" instrument training (had to get checked out in the plane anyway, might as well challenge myself). He said it was one of the fastest IRs they had done. I don't know that I believe them, but that's how it happened. I could have taken the ride 5 or 10 hours earlier if my CFII hadn't made me fly every lesson and basically skip ground...
 
I think I was about 40 hours including 3 from PPL. Did none on the simulator. However your numbers seem more likely to apply to hours for PPL and not IR certificate.

Doug
 
had 45.5 simulated instrument 1.2 hour actual when I completed my checkride.
Only a few hours with a safety pilot. None in a simulator
I finished in 1995.
 
I need to get on the ball and do this soon.
 
Ron Levy said:
I don't know where those instructors got their numbers, but they seem way, way high to me. Yes, there are the occasional outliers, like the guy who came to me with 260 hours of instrument training, whom I finished in about 20 more hours. The PIC experience seems to be about 45 hours of instrument time for those with nothing much more than the 3 hours required for PP. Personally, I had 41.4 back in 1971. However, I have not been able to find any FAA stats on actual average times.
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I guess I'm one of the outliers then. :(

98.3 simulated
4.4 actual

as of my checkride last month. I was ready to take the checkride about 10 hours earlier, at the end of July, when my written expired, but still...

No question but that buying a plane with a fancy panel slowed me down. I had a lot of starts and stops over the next 2 years or so as I taught myself the arcane details of the 480 (with help from Keith Thomassen's book), then tried to apply what I'd learned under the hood. If I'd stuck with the club planes I probably would have finished in 50 hours or so.
 
azure said:
I guess I'm one of the outliers then. :(

98.3 simulated
4.4 actual

as of my checkride last month. I was ready to take the checkride about 10 hours earlier, at the end of July, when my written expired, but still...

No question but that buying a plane with a fancy panel slowed me down. I had a lot of starts and stops over the next 2 years or so as I taught myself the arcane details of the 480 (with help from Keith Thomassen's book), then tried to apply what I'd learned under the hood. If I'd stuck with the club planes I probably would have finished in 50 hours or so.
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But you got there!!! :yes:
 
I think you were quoted PPL initial averages. IFR is usually sub-50 if they stick with it on a fairly short schedule (2-3 months max). I've seen guys fly "some IFR" every Saturday, and they're not likely to ever get the rating. They also don't seem to "really" want it.

I think pilots should scrub off their PPL rust with a solid flight review or similar, and make sure they can pass a private ride before embarking on IFR. Those "i forget how to fly" moments really muck up learning approaches :D
 
schmookeeg said:
I think you were quoted PPL initial averages. IFR is usually sub-50 if they stick with it on a fairly short schedule (2-3 months max). I've seen guys fly "some IFR" every Saturday, and they're not likely to ever get the rating. They also don't seem to "really" want it.

I think pilots should scrub off their PPL rust with a solid flight review or similar, and make sure they can pass a private ride before embarking on IFR. Those "i forget how to fly" moments really muck up learning approaches :D
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I jumped into mine as soon as I finished my ppl and 50hrs pic xc. I got my ppl June 6 2012 and got my ifr February 2 2013. I was done with my 50hrs pic xc about August 20th or so and flew my plane from krap to kchd with a CFii in September. Started the instrument like ocboter 10th or so. I imagine if I hadn't been very current and familiar with my plane I would have struggled a lot.
 
40 hrs and a check ride, started on Monday, took my ride on Saturday in a 172 with 1 KX-170B and an ADF, shot the last approach, PP VOR in actual.
 
Henning said:
40 hrs and a check ride, started on Monday, took my ride on Saturday in a 172 with 1 KX-170B and an ADF, shot the last approach, PP VOR in actual.
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The DPE agreed to be PIC for the flight?
 
5 in the sim and 35 simulated instrument (3 carried over from private) when I took (and passed haha) the ride

I had about 12 hours in a warrior and the rest in a 152
 
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I had about 59 hours of combined simulated and actual time, but that was over a number of years. A few things conspired to extend the time from when I started working on the IR and when I finally passed the ride.
 
I had 42. I would've taken the ride right at 40, but the examiner wasn't going to be available for another 2 weeks, so I had to do another flight to stay fresh. I never used a safety pilot until after I got my IR.
 
skidoo said:
I was told by one instructor that although the minimum time for the IR is 40 hours, it typically takes 80 hours. Another instructor says the national average time is about 70 hours. So, it got me to wondering what it really took those who obtained the IR.

How many total hours of simulated + actual instrument time did it actually take you to obtain the IR?
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:eek: Sounds way off to me.
 
I have 50-something so far and I'm almost done. I have to practice for a checkride. I also took off nearly a year because I had a baby last year. I was trying to finish before that, but by six months pregnant I was just too tired and I had to stop. So I have a bunch of hours relearning what I forgot in the intervening year.
 
It probably took me about 30 hours spread over 25 years to get the rating. Of course it wasn't serious until the last 7 days I spent with the PIC instructor.
 
I have wondered before if some students/instructors count too much of a flight as simulated inst during training. For example, I took my check ride with just a hair over 40hrs of instrument time, some simulated imc, some actual, and some in the simulator itself. But, my instructor was good about only starting the clock when the goggles went on and when they came off. We'd often fly 1.7 and get maybe 1.0 inst time. So, in that sense I might have done at least 60 total hours to get my instrument rating.
 
I flew about 34-35, but counted 30 towards hood time. 10 in the sim..
 
There were days I took off under the hood and landed under the hood. Most days I got to about 300 agl and it went on. It came off at the MAP. So. . 8 or. 9 for a 1hr wasn't unusual.
 
Many of the 'high hour' IR students seem to be the ones who can never make enough time to move forward. An hour, every week crammed in between appointments, often cancelled because the CFII is off on a charter trip and it drags on and on.

I managed to rearrange my schedule to clear the mornings of 3 days/week every other week. Fly from 8 am to 2pm, work from 3 to midnight. Not much else got done during those weeks :( . With that somewhat condensed schedule, I got through it with the minimum hours.
 
EdFred said:
The DPE agreed to be PIC for the flight?
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It was funny, we were inbound to the VOR and he said "You can take off your foggles now" and I was 'damn, what did I bust on?' When I took them off, we were skimming the top of the marine layer at 1600 with a solid deck all over the SoCal basin. He said "I can't make you shoot this approach, the rules say Day VFR. We can discontinue now and I'll take it and we'll do this one approach tomorrow, or you can go for it and if we come out the bottom right side up with the runway somewhere in front of us, you have your ticket." Just then we passed over the VOR and I did my 5Ts and went into actual (a good bit of the previous week was in actual) around 800' he pulled the stickies off my gyros and a bit after that we broke out. Really, looking back at the situation he had no choice but to be PIC or we would have had to go to Palm Springs to land, I had never considered that before. We started the ride in clear skies.
 
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dukeblue219 said:
I have wondered before if some students/instructors count too much of a flight as simulated inst during training. For example, I took my check ride with just a hair over 40hrs of instrument time, some simulated imc, some actual, and some in the simulator itself. But, my instructor was good about only starting the clock when the goggles went on and when they came off. We'd often fly 1.7 and get maybe 1.0 inst time. So, in that sense I might have done at least 60 total hours to get my instrument rating.
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I was foggles down rolling down the runway until minimums for the landing at the last approach on that tank of fuel. We shot an approach at every airport with an approach in CA between the Bay Area and the boarder going missed at most of them nearly all the time was partial panel with gyros failing at 500' typically. It was an intense week to say the least.
 
EdFred said:
The DPE agreed to be PIC for the flight?
Click to expand...

It's not as uncommon as some here would have you believe. I asked the DPE I used for my private and instrument if we could do the instrument ride in actual, just to see if it was an option. He said "Yes, but if we do it in VMC you have to meet PTS standards, and if we do it in actual, you have to meet *my* standards."

It ended up being a nice VFR day when I took the instrument ride, but the option was there.
 
I was about 80. Started it 3 different times. Also, didn't fly regularly enough. I wouldn't recommend it as a way to go!
 
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