How to get an instrument rating in South Africa

An instrument rating lets you fly under instrument flight rules (IFR) and in cloud. Without one, apart from training, a skills test or special VFR, you may not fly IFR or in instrument meteorological conditions.¹ It's also required for the airline transport pilot licence.²

What you need before you start

• A valid pilot licence and a night rating.³
• A general radiotelephony certificate (the restricted one for a PPL isn't enough).³
• A valid medical certificate.³ Part 67 lists the instrument rating among the ratings that need a Class 1, so a private pilot holding a Class 2 should plan for a Class 1 examination.⁴ See aviation medicals explained.
• At least 50 hours of cross-country flight time as pilot in command (aeroplane, helicopter or powered-lift), at least 10 of them in the category you want the rating for.³

The training

• At least 40 hours of instrument flight training. A maximum of either 20 or 30 hours can be in a flight simulation training device, depending on what that device is approved for.³ SACAA publishes a list of qualified devices, so you can check a school's simulator.⁷
• At least 5 hours in the aircraft category the rating is for.³
• For a multi-engine instrument rating, at least 5 hours of instrument training in a multi-engine aeroplane (3 may be in a simulator), on top of the multi-engine class or type rating training.³
• All of it at an Approved Training Organisation.³

Exams and the skills test

You pass the instrument rating theory exam for the category,⁸ then a skills test with a designated flight examiner. The test must be within 36 months of passing the theory and within 30 days of your last lesson towards the rating.⁹ What you fly it in decides the endorsement:⁹

• a single-engine aeroplane (or approved simulator): single-engine aeroplanes;
• a multi-engine aeroplane: multi-engine and single-engine aeroplanes;
• a helicopter: helicopters;
• a multi-pilot operation: restricted to multi-pilot until you pass a single-pilot revalidation.

To fly RNAV (GNSS) approaches, the rating must also be endorsed for RNP approaches.¹⁰ If you've passed the ATPL theory subjects, you have 36 months from then to get your instrument rating.¹¹

What it costs

Add the Class 1 medical and any extra hours you need beyond the minimum. Few schools publish a stand-alone price for the rating, so ask for an itemised quote: simulator hours, aircraft hours and type, briefings, the examiner's fee and the test aircraft.

Keeping it

• The rating lasts 12 months. Revalidate within the 90 days before it expires and the new 12 months are counted from the end of the month after your old expiry date, so you don't lose time by going early.⁵
• The revalidation check is with a designated flight examiner. It also revalidates your licence's maintenance of competency for 12 months.⁶
• If it's lapsed for 36 months or less, you pass a revalidation check. More than 36 months: rewrite the theory, retrain at an Approved Training Organisation and pass the skills test.⁶
• With both single- and multi-engine endorsements, every other revalidation can be in a single-engine aeroplane or an approved simulator.⁶
• Recency: to fly an instrument approach in cloud as pilot in command, you need at least two approaches on instruments (real or simulated, in an aircraft or approved simulator) in the previous 90 days, or the appropriate skills test.¹⁴

See also PPL, CPL and ATPL compared and how to choose a flight school.