By Adam Hunt
Staying current is important – most pilots realize aviation is complex and
that over time we forget important things if we don’t do them regularly.
But how current do we need to be to be legal? Let’s have a look at what the CARs
require to be current or “recency,” as TC calls it.
All the rules can be found in CAR 401.05 and the associated CAR Standard 421.05.
“Recency Requirements” are basically divided into four sections applicable to
the recreational airplane pilot – the five-year requirement, the two-year
requirement, what you need to do to carry passengers and instrument rating
recency.
The five-year requirement is pretty simple. You either have to have “acted as
pilot-in-command or co-pilot of an aircraft within the five years preceding the
flight” or else complete a “flight review” within one year prior to the flight.
Note that you have to have acted as PIC of “an aircraft” – it doesn’t matter
what type, class or category.
Flying an ultralight airplane will keep your glider licence “recent” for this
requirement; acting as PIC of a helicopter will keep your airplane licences
“recent” – the only stipulation is that you must have acted as PIC – so you must
have done so legally, with a valid licence for the type flown.
Sitting in an airliner left seat for 10 minutes when your licence is “day, VFR,
single engine, land” doesn’t count – you weren’t legally PIC! Dual doesn’t count
either – it must be PIC time.
The CAR does allow you to have acted as a co-pilot, but note that this must be
on a type of aircraft designated in the type certificate as requiring two pilots
– you cannot be a co-pilot on a Cessna 172 as they are type certified for only
one pilot just like almost all light aircraft are!
If you are past five years since you acted as PIC then you have to complete the
“flight review” to meet the five-year requirement. This specifically includes
doing a check flight with an instructor, having your logbook endorsed by the
instructor and completing the written exam for the licence held. The flight
review must include “all items normally covered during the flight test for the
issue of that permit or licence.” In a lot of ways it is like re-doing your
whole licence again. These are all good reasons to not let five years pass
between flights as PIC!
The two-year requirements are similarly simple. To meet this requirement you
have to do a “recurrent training program” every two years. The CAR standard
outlines your options here and there are lots of them!
You can meet the requirement by:
“(a) completion of a flight review conducted by the holder of a flight
instructor rating in the same category, shall include all items normally covered
during the flight test for the issue of that permit or licence;
(b) attendance at a safety seminar conducted by Transport Canada Aviation;
(c) participation in a recurrent training program which is designed to update
pilot knowledge of human factors, meteorology, flight planning and navigation,
and aviation regulations, rules and procedures that has been approved by the
Minister as being satisfactory for those purposes;
(d) completion of the self-paced study program produced annually in the
Transport Canada Aviation Safety Newsletter, which is designed to update pilot
knowledge in the subjects specified in (c) above. The completed copy shall be
the most current published by date and shall be retained by the licence holder;
(e) completion of a training program or Pilot Proficiency Check as required by
Parts IV, VI or VII of the Canadian Aviation Regulations;
(f) completion of the skill requirements for issue or renewal of a pilot permit,
licence or rating, including night rating, VFR over-the-top rating, instrument
rating, multi-engine class rating, flight instructor rating, landplane or
seaplane rating; or
(g) completion of the written examination(s) for a permit, licence or rating.”
The next requirement covers what you have to do to carry passengers.
The rule for airplanes says you must do, in the same “category and class” of
aircraft or in a Level B, C or D simulator of the same category and class as the
aircraft, at least:
Five night or day take-offs and five night or day landings, if the flight is
conducted wholly by day,
or five night take-offs and five night landings, if the flight is conducted
wholly or partly by night”
The reference to simulators there means that you can’t do the take-offs and
landings in a generic “procedures trainer” of the type frequently found in
flight schools or on a home PC – it has to be in a specific certified aircraft
type simulator.
Note that doing your take-offs and landings at night keeps you both day and
night current, but doing them in the daytime only keeps you day current!
It is also worth noting that, unlike the five-year requirement, this requirement
is specific to “category and class.”
The CARS defines these as:
Category - the classification of aircraft as an aeroplane, a balloon, a glider,
a gyroplane, a helicopter or an ultra-light aeroplane.
Class - single-engine aeroplanes, multi-engine aeroplanes, centre-line thrust
aeroplanes, land aeroplanes or sea aeroplanes.
That means that doing five take-offs and landings in an ultralight airplane will
not allow you to carry passengers in a light aircraft.
Similarly doing your take-offs and landings in a multi-engined airplane will not
allow you to carry passengers in a single-engined airplane.
Doing your take-offs and landings in an amateur-built or owner maintenance
single engined airplane will allow you to carry passengers in a certified
aircraft – they are all “aeroplanes”, unlike ultralights (for this rule,
anyway).
Instrument rating recency requirements don’t permit you to fly IFR unless you
have:
Within the 12 months preceding the flight, successfully completed an instrument
rating flight test,
or within the previous six months flown six hours of instrument time and
completed six instrument approaches to minimums in actual or simulated
conditions,
or within the previous six months acquired six hours of instrument time and
completed six instrument approaches to the minimums in actual or simulated
conditions, while acting as a flight instructor conducting training for an
instrument rating,
or successfully completed a commercial or private operator pilot proficiency
check which included the instrument procedures portion.
Staying current, or “recent” as TC calls it, isn’t hard, it just takes a bit of
attention to when you last flew and making sure you meet the requirements.
These are the minimums required to fly in Canada, many pilots will want to do
more than these minimums to stay proficient and to fly as safely as possible.