Pilot Currency Tracker
A flight review does not make you current — separate clocks. Plus the three definitions of night, which do not line up and invert going north.
Each clock, separately
They run at different rates and none of them substitutes for another.
When night starts, by latitude
Full stop, or does a touch and go count?
Three definitions of night, and they do not line up
Position lights come on at sunset. Loggable night time starts at the end of evening civil twilight. Night landings for passenger currency only start a full hour after sunset. Three rules, three different moments, and the gaps between them move with where you are and what month it is. At 35 degrees north on the June solstice, twilight ends about 30 minutes after sunset and currency starts at 60 — leaving half an hour that is night in your logbook and worth nothing toward the ninety-day clock.
That gap is not a constant you can memorise. It narrows going north — 33 minutes at 30 degrees, 27 at 40, 23 at 45 — and above about 55.4 degrees it inverts entirely, because twilight starts outlasting the one-hour mark and currency begins before loggable night does. Above 60 degrees 34 minutes, civil twilight never ends at midsummer at all, so there is no loggable night whatsoever while "one hour after sunset" still arrives on schedule. A pilot in Anchorage and a pilot in Houston are working with genuinely different arrangements of the same three rules.
The clocks have the same problem. A flight review does not make you current and currency does not replace a review — one runs 24 calendar months, the other 90 days, and you need both at once. Even the two kinds of clock sit in adjacent paragraphs of 61.57: passenger currency is counted in strict days, instrument currency in calendar months that run to the end of the final month and quietly hand back up to 30 free days. Reading one paragraph and assuming the next works the same way is an easy and expensive mistake.
How to use
- Enter how long ago each requirement was last met, in its own units.
- Check the night table before assuming an evening flight counts for currency.
- Remember tailwheel day landings must be to a full stop, like night ones.
- Verify against the regulations and your instructor before carrying anyone.
Frequently asked questions
Does a flight review make me current?
No, and it is the most common misunderstanding in this area. A flight review under 61.56 lets you act as pilot in command at all; passenger currency under 61.57 lets you take someone with you. They are separate clocks running at different rates — 24 calendar months against 90 days, a ratio of eight to one — and you need both in date at the same time.
What does 90-day currency actually require?
Three takeoffs and landings within the preceding 90 days, in the same category and class of aircraft, and in type if the aeroplane requires a type rating. By day in a tricycle-gear aeroplane they may be touch and goes. At night they must be to a full stop, and in a tailwheel aeroplane they must be to a full stop in daylight as well.
When does night start for currency purposes?
One hour after sunset, and one hour before sunrise at the other end — which is not when night starts for logging, and not when you must turn the position lights on either. There are three definitions in the regulations and they give three different moments. Landings flown in the window between them are night in your logbook and count for nothing toward the ninety-day clock.
What are the three definitions of night?
Position lights come on at sunset, under 91.209. Loggable night time runs from the end of evening civil twilight to the beginning of morning civil twilight, under the definition in part 1. Night takeoffs and landings for passenger currency only count from one hour after sunset to one hour before sunrise, under 61.57(b). Same word, three rules, three moments.
How big is the gap between loggable night and currency night?
It depends on where you are and what month it is, which is exactly why it catches people. At 35 degrees north on the June solstice, civil twilight ends about 30 minutes after sunset while currency starts at 60 — half an hour of loggable night that is worthless for the ninety-day clock. At 30 degrees the gap is 33 minutes, at 40 it is 27, at 45 it is 23.
Does that gap ever reverse?
Yes, above about 55.4 degrees of latitude in early summer, where civil twilight starts outlasting the one-hour mark and currency night begins before loggable night does. Above 60 degrees 34 minutes, civil twilight never ends at midsummer at all — so there is no loggable night whatsoever, while one hour after sunset still arrives on schedule.
Can a touch and go count for currency?
In exactly one case out of four: daylight, tricycle gear. Night landings must be to a full stop under 61.57(b), and tailwheel landings must be to a full stop even in daylight under 61.57(a). So three of the four combinations need full stops, and the touch and go is the exception rather than the rule.
What is instrument currency?
Six instrument approaches, holding procedures and tasks, and intercepting and tracking courses using navigational electronic systems, within the preceding six calendar months. It is entirely independent of passenger currency and of the flight review — you can hold any one of the three while the other two have lapsed, in any combination.
Why do calendar months matter as opposed to days?
Because a calendar-month clock runs to the end of the final month and hands back up to 30 free days, while a 90-day clock is counted strictly. Both kinds live in adjacent paragraphs of 61.57: passenger currency in days, instrument currency in calendar months. Instrument tasks flown on the first of a month give you nearly a month more than tasks flown on the thirtieth.
What happens if instrument currency lapses?
There are two stages, and the difference between them is one month of not paying attention. Lapse past six calendar months and you may still regain currency within the following six by flying the required tasks with a safety pilot. Lapse past twelve and you need an instrument proficiency check with an instructor or examiner. The first is a grace period; the second is effectively a checkride.
Do landings in a different aeroplane count?
Only within the same category and class, and the same type where a type rating is required. Landings in a single-engine aeroplane do nothing for multi-engine currency, and a glider or helicopter flight does nothing for either. This is where pilots who fly several things get caught out — the logbook total looks healthy while one particular column has quietly gone stale.
Is being current the same as being ready?
No, and no regulation can bridge that gap. Three circuits ninety days ago satisfies 61.57 and tells you very little about flying an unfamiliar aerodrome at night in a crosswind with passengers aboard. Currency is a legal floor rather than a measure of proficiency, and the honest question about any particular flight is a different one worth asking beforehand.
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