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Currency & experience audit
Work down this sheet with your logbook open. The regulation's numbers are printed; everything that depends on your certificate, your hours and your endorsements is a blank, because a sheet that tells you when your medical expires without seeing your certificate is guessing.
1 · Medical
§ 61.23 — one certificate, several expiry dates
REGULATIONThe duration depends on the class, your age on the date of the exam, and the operation you are conducting. One certificate carries several expiry dates at once — it never “reverts” to a lower class.
Each row below expires, for that operation, at the end of the last day of the [N]th month after the month of the date of examination shown on the medical certificate.
| Class | Age at exam | For this operation | Expires |
|---|---|---|---|
| First | Under 40 | ATP PIC · part 121 SIC (flag/supplemental, 3+ pilots) | 12th month |
| First | 40 or over | same, plus part 121 crewmember past the 60th birthday | 6th month |
| First | Any age | commercial · flight engineer · ATC tower operator | 12th month |
| First | Under 40 | recreational · private · CFI · student · sport | 60th month |
| First | 40 or over | recreational · private · CFI · student · sport | 24th month |
| Second | Any age | ATP SIC (other than above) · commercial · flight engineer · ATCT | 12th month |
| Second | Under 40 | recreational · private · CFI · student · sport | 60th month |
| Second | 40 or over | recreational · private · CFI · student · sport | 24th month |
| Third | Under 40 | recreational · private · CFI · student · sport | 60th month |
| Third | 40 or over | recreational · private · CFI · student · sport | 24th month |
BasicMed instead? § 61.113(i); course and exam under part 68
- · medical education course — within the preceding 24 calendar months
- · comprehensive medical examination — within the preceding 48 calendar months
Limits, in our words: not more than 7 occupants · not more than 12,500 lb maximum takeoff weight · not more than 6 passengers · not above 18,000 feet MSL · not faster than 250 knots indicated · not a part 29 transport-category rotorcraft.
2 · Flight review
§ 61.56
REGULATIONDue since the beginning of the 24th calendar month before the month in which that pilot acts as pilot in command. It must include a minimum of 1 hour of flight training and 1 hour of ground training.
Four things satisfy it, not one:
- § 61.56(c) a flight review given by an authorized instructor, with a logbook endorsement
- § 61.56(d) a pilot proficiency check or practical test for a certificate, rating or operating privilege
- § 61.56(e) one or more phases of an FAA-sponsored pilot proficiency program (WINGS)
- § 61.56(g) as a student pilot: undergoing training for a certificate, with a current solo flight endorsement as required under § 61.87
3 · Recent flight experience
§ 61.57
REGULATIONCarrying persons — day§ 61.57(a)
3 takeoffs and 3 landings within the preceding 90 days, as the sole manipulator of the flight controls, in an aircraft of the same category, class, and type (if a class or type rating is required).
CHECKRIDE TRAPTECHNIQUEThe landings do NOT have to be to a full stop — unless the airplane you will fly is a tailwheel airplane, in which case they must be to a full stop and in a tailwheel airplane. § 61.57(a)(1)(ii).Mine current through
Carrying persons — night§ 61.57(b)
3 takeoffs and 3 landings to a full stop within the preceding 90 days, during the period beginning 1 hour after sunset and ending 1 hour before sunrise — as sole manipulator of the flight controls, in an aircraft of the same category, class, and type (if a class or type rating is required).
CHECKRIDE TRAPTECHNIQUEAlways to a full stop, with no tailwheel exception — and note this window is NOT the same as the § 1.1 definition of night, nor the position-lights period of § 91.209. The rule's word is “persons”, not “passengers” — in both (a) and (b) — and it is broader than a passenger-only reading.Mine current through
Instrument§ 61.57(c)
6 instrument approaches, holding procedures and tasks, and intercepting and tracking courses — within the 6 calendar months preceding the month of the flight.
CHECKRIDE TRAPTECHNIQUEMiss it by more than six calendar months and an instrument proficiency check is required. § 61.57(d).Mine current through
4 · Aeronautical experience — airplane single-engine
§ 61.109(a) · every figure is a minimum
REGULATION40 hours total flight time§ 61.109(a)
20 hours of flight training from an authorized instructor§ 61.109(a)
10 hours of solo flight training§ 61.109(a)
3 hours cross-country flight training§ 61.109(a)(1)
3 hours of night flight training, which must include —§ 61.109(a)(2)
one cross-country flight of over 100 nautical miles total distance§ 61.109(a)(2)(i)
10 takeoffs and 10 landings to a full stop (with each landing involving a flight in the traffic pattern) at an airport§ 61.109(a)(2)(ii)
3 hours of flight training on control and maneuvering solely by reference to instruments§ 61.109(a)(3)
3 hours of flight training in preparation for the practical test, within the preceding 2 calendar months from the month of the test§ 61.109(a)(4)
5 hours of solo cross-country time§ 61.109(a)(5)(i)
one solo cross-country flight of 150 nautical miles total distance, with full-stop landings at three points, and one segment of the flight consisting of a straight-line distance of more than 50 nautical miles between the takeoff and landing locations§ 61.109(a)(5)(ii)
3 takeoffs and 3 landings to a full stop (with each landing involving a flight in the traffic pattern) at an airport with an operating control tower§ 61.109(a)(5)(iii)
5 · Endorsements to check
categories only — the wording lives in the AC
TECHNIQUENo endorsement text is printed here. Take the wording from AC 61-65K (November 14, 2025), which is what your CFI signs against — it changes with each revision.
- pre-solo aeronautical knowledge and flight training, and the solo endorsement itself§ 61.87
- the general solo cross-country endorsements — category, and make and model — after the required training§ 61.93(c)(1)–(2)
- the per-flight endorsement for each solo cross-country, after reviewing that flight's planning and conditions§ 61.93(c)(3)
- solo takeoffs and landings at another airport within 25 nautical miles — single-purpose: practising takeoffs and landings there§ 61.93(b)(1)
- repeated specific solo cross-country flights over one route, to an airport within 50 nautical miles§ 61.93(b)(2)
- the Class B airspace endorsement — airport-specific; and at the airports listed in section 4 of appendix D to part 91, § 91.131(b)(2) bars student solo outright§ 61.95
Five things stated wrongly all the time
including by people who should know better
- CHECKRIDE TRAPTECHNIQUE“First class is six months after 40” is wrong for almost everyone. The 6th-month row applies ONLY to the ATP and part 121 column. The same first-class certificate held by the same over-40 pilot is good to the 12th month for commercial operations — that row reads “Any age”, so turning 40 does not shorten it at all — and to the 24th month for private privileges.§ 61.23(d)(1)(ii), (iii), (v)
- CHECKRIDE TRAPTECHNIQUEA medical does not expire in “N calendar months”. The CFR anchors to the month of the exam: it expires at the end of the last day of the Nth month AFTER the month of the date of examination. The phrase “calendar months” appears in § 61.23 only in the BasicMed paragraphs, where it genuinely applies. The two idioms are not interchangeable.§ 61.23(d) vs § 61.23(c)(3)(i)(C)–(D)
- CHECKRIDE TRAPTECHNIQUEDay passenger currency does not require full-stop landings. § 61.57(a) requires 3 takeoffs and 3 landings — full stop only if the airplane you will fly is a tailwheel airplane. § 61.57(b), the night rule, always requires full stop and has no tailwheel clause. The two are routinely printed as one row.§ 61.57(a)(1)(ii) vs § 61.57(b)(1)
- CHECKRIDE TRAPTECHNIQUEThe night ten do not need a control tower — the solo three do. § 61.109(a)(2)(ii) puts the 10 night takeoffs and landings “at an airport”, full stop. The operating-control-tower requirement belongs to the three solo takeoffs and landings in § 61.109(a)(5)(iii). These get swapped constantly.§ 61.109(a)(2)(ii) vs § 61.109(a)(5)(iii)
- CHECKRIDE TRAPTECHNIQUEA flight review is not the only way to satisfy § 61.56. § 61.56(c) opens “Except as provided in paragraphs (d), (e), and (g)”. A proficiency check or practical test, a phase of WINGS, or — for a student pilot undergoing training for a certificate — a current § 61.87 solo endorsement each satisfy it.§ 61.56(c)–(e), (g)
Related
- PPL Checkride Ready — the paperwork side of the same question, for the day itself
- Night passenger currency — the § 61.57(b) rule, answered in full
- Pilot Safety Check — what you carry, and what the airplane carries
Badges.REGULATION quoted from 14 or 49 CFR.FAA GUIDANCE quoted from the AIM, an AC, or an FAA handbook — advice, not law.POH/AFM your aircraft’s own records govern.TECHNIQUE our voice — how to think about it.Text outside quotation marks is ours, whatever badge sits nearby.
Sources. 14 CFR part 61, quoted from the electronic Code of Federal Regulations, Title 14, issue date 2026-08-24 (up to date as of 2026-08-27), retrieved 2026-08-31. Binding evidence: frozen eCFR section files committed with this site, SHA-256-pinned and test-gated; the authoring pass additionally reported a GPO/govinfo annual-edition cell-diff of the § 61.23(d) table (0 differing cells) — recorded as a historical claim, not as repo evidence. Endorsement guidance: AC 61-65K, dated November 14, 2025, status Active — confirmed against the FAA's Advisory Circular index on 2026-08-31, where revisions H and J no longer appear.
No endorsement wording appears on this sheet, deliberately. That text belongs to AC 61-65K and changes with each revision — J was cancelled by K in November 2025. Take the wording from the current AC, not from a card.
This is an audit aid, not a record. Your logbook, your endorsements, your medical certificate and the regulation are the record. If this sheet and your logbook disagree, your logbook is the one that counts.
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