Rating Program
Fly through clouds, low ceilings, and reduced visibility — legally and safely. The Instrument Rating transforms good pilots into great ones.
The Instrument Rating qualifies you to fly through clouds, fog, and low ceilings under IFR — guided by your instruments and ATC rather than visual reference to the ground. It's a prerequisite for the Commercial certificate, a practical requirement for any professional aviation career, and one of the most intellectually rewarding ratings in aviation.
This training will take you through instrument procedures, emergency procedures, and instrument approaches. The Phoenix Valley offers real IFR traffic, diverse approach procedures, and 300+ flyable days a year — an outstanding instrument training environment.
Enroute charts, departure procedures, arrival procedures, and Standard Terminal Arrivals (STARs) for IFR navigation.
ILS, RNAV/GPS, VOR, and LOC approaches — from initial fix to minimums. Precision and non-precision approach techniques.
Flying VOR airways, GPS flight plans, and understanding the avionics suite used in IFR operations.
Flying with failed instruments, recovering from unusual attitudes, and maintaining control without visual reference to the horizon.
Reading weather products specific to IFR ops, filing IFR flight plans, understanding alternates, and in-flight weather decisions.
Clearances, holds, amendments, and the full vocabulary of IFR communication with air traffic control.
What's Next
Ready to Fly?
The best way to know if the Instrument Rating is right for you is to get in the air. A Discovery Flight puts you in the cockpit over the Phoenix Valley — no experience needed.
