Maintaining Your Skills

Transport Canada Currency Requirements

In order to be considered current, a pilot, in addition to holding a valid Medical Certificate, must meet the regulatory requirements for recency and currency. The recency requirements may be found in CARs 421.05.

The recency requirements address three time periods, 5 years, 2 years, and 6 months. If you wish to act as pilot-in-command or co-pilot of an aircraft you must meet both the 5 year and the 2 year recency requirements. If you wish to carry passengers you must also meet the 6 month requirement.

To meet the 5-year requirement, you must have either:
– flown as pilot-in-command or co-pilot within the previous 5 years; or
– completed a flight review with an instructor and written and passed the PSTAR exam within the previous 12 months.

To meet the 2-year requirement, you must have successfully completed a recurrent training program within the previous 24 months.

There are seven ways to meet the recurrent training program standard and they are detailed in CAR 421.05(2). They are summarized as follows:
– complete a flight review with an instructor;
– attend a safety seminar conducted by Transport Canada;
– participate in a Transport Canada approved recurrent training program;
– complete the self-paced study program in the Transport Canada Aviation Safety Newsletter;
– complete a training program or PPC required by Part IV, VI or VII of the CARs;
– complete the requirements for the issue or renewal of a licence, permit or rating; or
– complete the written exam for a licence, permit or rating.

To meet the 6-month requirement for carrying passengers, you must have completed 5 take-offs and landings in the same category and class of aircraft within the previous 6 months.

If the flight is to be flown at night, then the take-offs and landings must have been completed at night.

Staying Current at the Brampton Flight Centre

Here at the Brampton Flight Centre, in order to be considered current as dictated by our insurance, and you have less than 200 hours, you must have flown as PIC on the BFC aircraft you want to rent once within the previous 30 days, and flown a minimum of 3 hours as PIC on BFC aircraft in the previous 90 days.  Or you can fly for a currency check flight with one of our qualified instructors.

If your total time is greater than 200 hours and 50 hours on type, in order to be considered current you must have acted as PIC on the BFC aircraft you want to rent once within the previous 60 days (this does not apply to certain aircraft types), and flown a minimum of 3 hours as PIC on BFC aircraft in the previous 90 days. Or you can fly for a currency check flight with one of our qualified instructors.

Please note that currency is specific to aircraft type as some of our aircraft have shorter currency periods.

Other ways to improve your skills or maintain currency is to complete a type checkout on a different aircraft.  Here at the Brampton Flight Centre, we offer a Cessna 182 for rental.

We are also pleased to offer a Citabria for rental.  We are one of two airports that currently rent tail-dragger aircraft.  In a mere ten hours of instructional time on the tail-dragger, you too could be piloting this vintage aircraft.