Flight Review
Regulatory Reference 14 CFR §61.56 ↗The flight review — commonly referred to as a BFR, or biennial flight review — is a regulatory requirement for any pilot who wishes to continue acting as pilot-in-command, governed by 14 CFR §61.56. It is not a test and there is no pass/fail designation. It is a recurrency event: an opportunity to review regulations, sharpen skills, and ensure you're flying safely and current.
A completed flight review is valid for 24 calendar months. If you've let yours lapse, you are not current to act as PIC until you complete a new one — no matter how many hours you have in your logbook.
Prerequisites
Per 14 CFR §61.56(a), any person who holds a pilot certificate and wishes to act as PIC must have completed a flight review within the preceding 24 calendar months. There are no aeronautical experience prerequisites specific to the review itself — it applies equally to the 50-hour private pilot and the 5,000-hour ATP.
Certain activities may substitute for a flight review per §61.56(e) and (f), including completion of a pilot proficiency program, certain military currency requirements, and the successful completion of a practical test for a new certificate or rating.
Knowledge Requirements
Per 14 CFR §61.56(a)(1), the flight review must include a review of the current general operating and flight rules of 14 CFR Part 91. There is no FAA-prescribed syllabus beyond that — the regulation defers to the instructor's judgment on what is necessary for the pilot to demonstrate safe exercise of their privileges.
In practice, ground discussion will be tailored to you: your recent flying history, the types of operations you conduct, any airspace or regulatory changes since your last review, and any knowledge gaps that surface in conversation. This is not a gotcha session — it's a real conversation about how you're flying and whether the regulatory framework you're operating under is well understood.
Flight Experience
Per 14 CFR §61.56(a)(2), the flight review must include a minimum of one hour of flight training. The maneuvers and procedures covered are at the discretion of the authorized instructor, based on what is necessary to demonstrate safe exercise of the privileges of the certificate.
One hour is a regulatory floor, not a target. Depending on how long it's been, what you've been flying, and what comes up in the air, a thorough flight review may take longer — and that's not a bad thing. The goal is to finish confident, current, and sharp, not to log the minimum and call it done. There is no logbook endorsement for failure; if you're not ready, we keep flying until you are.
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