FAA flight review (BFR) under 14 CFR 61.56: the full rules
Checked against the sources below on 29 October 2026. How these guides are written
Log it in Off Chocks, free for your first 50 logged hours.On a computer? Scan this with your iPhone camera to open Off Chocks in the App Store.
To act as pilot in command under FAA rules you need a flight review in the last 24 calendar months (14 CFR 61.56(c)). It is at least 1 hour of ground training and 1 hour of flight training with an "authorized instructor", covering the Part 91 rules and the manoeuvres the instructor picks, then a logbook endorsement. A proficiency check or practical test by an examiner or approved check airman, or a completed WINGS phase, replaces it. It lasts to the last day of the 24th month.
- Content
- At least 1 h flight training and 1 h ground training: Part 91 rules plus manoeuvres the instructor chooses
- Each review
- 61.56(a)
- How long it lasts
- Since the beginning of the 24th calendar month before the month you act as PIC
- 24 calendar months
- 61.56(c)
- Who gives it
- An authorized instructor, in an aircraft you are rated for, who endorses your logbook
- Each review
- 61.56(c)(1)-(2)
- Check or practical test instead
- Proficiency check or practical test by an examiner, approved check airman or U.S. Armed Force; flight instructor practical tests
- Same 24 calendar months
- 61.56(d)
- WINGS instead
- One or more completed phases of the FAA WINGS program
- Same 24 calendar months
- 61.56(e)
- Flight instructors
- No 1 h ground training if you met 61.197 recent experience or did a 61.199(a)(1) refresher course
- Same 24 calendar months
- 61.56(f)
- Simulator or FTD
- Only in an approved Part 142 course; 61.57(a) or (b) landings unless the simulator is approved for landings
- Each review
- 61.56(i)
What a flight review must include
61.56(a) sets the floor: "a minimum of 1 hour of flight training and 1 hour of ground training". The review must include "a review of the current general operating and flight rules of part 91" and "a review of those maneuvers and procedures that, at the discretion of the person giving the review, are necessary for the pilot to demonstrate the safe exercise of the privileges of the pilot certificate." Glider pilots may fly three instructional flights to pattern altitude in place of the hour of flight (61.56(b)).
The two hours are a minimum. AC 61-98E, the FAA's guidance on flight reviews, says the review "is not a practical test, but rather a training event in which proficiency is evaluated", that it "may require more than 1 hour of ground training and 1 hour of flight training", and that the instructor decides the total. Expect the instructor to build the plan around the flying you do: a pilot who flies a glass-cockpit single at night gets a different review from one who flies a tailwheel off grass.
How long a flight review lasts
You may not act as PIC unless you completed the review "since the beginning of the 24th calendar month before the month in which that pilot acts as pilot in command" (61.56(c)). The count is calendar months, so the day of the month does not matter. A review signed on 12 June 2025 lets you act as PIC through 30 June 2027, and a review signed on 1 June 2025 lasts to the same date.
The rule only limits acting as pilot in command. You can still log time as a required crew member or fly with an instructor while your review has lapsed. A student pilot in training for a certificate with a current solo endorsement under 61.87 does not need a flight review at all (61.56(g)).
Who can give a flight review
61.56(c) requires a review "given in an aircraft for which that pilot is rated by an authorized instructor". 14 CFR 61.1 defines an authorized instructor to include a flight instructor in compliance with 61.197 (recent experience) training within the certificate's privileges, and "a person authorized by the Administrator to provide ground training or flight training under part 61, 121, 135, or 142". A flight instructor also needs the category and class rating on both the pilot and the instructor certificate for the aircraft used (61.195(b)).
The rule asks for an aircraft you hold a rating for, which need not be the aircraft you plan to fly next. The FAA's Instrument Rating ACS says applicants cannot use an aviation training device for "the flight portion of a ... flight review", and a full flight simulator or flight training device counts only inside an approved Part 142 course (61.56(i)). Robinson R22 and R44 pilots have extra flight review rules under SFAR 73, with their own endorsements (AC 61-65K A.64 and A.68).
What can replace a flight review
61.56(d)(1) waives the review if, inside the same 24 calendar months, you passed "a pilot proficiency check or practical test conducted by an examiner, an approved pilot check airman, or a U.S. Armed Force, for a pilot certificate, rating, or operating privilege". A checkride for a new certificate or rating counts, and so does an operator proficiency check given by an examiner or an approved check airman. 61.56(d)(2) adds the flight instructor practical tests: the initial certificate, an added instructor rating, recent experience under 61.197(b)(1) and reinstatement under 61.199(b)(2).
A completed phase of WINGS also replaces it (61.56(e)). AC 61-91K says you must finish the phase's set of knowledge and flight activities within 12 months, and that each new phase satisfies the flight review "regardless of how frequently or closely spaced". Attending one seminar does not complete a phase. 61.56(h) lets the instructor combine the review with 61.57 recent experience work, so a flight review and an IPC can share one session with two endorsements.
The endorsement, and what happens if it goes badly
AC 61-65K (14 November 2025, which cancelled AC 61-65J) gives the wording at A.69: "I certify that [First name, MI, Last name], [grade of pilot certificate], [certificate number], has satisfactorily completed a flight review of 14 CFR § 61.56(a) on [date]." A.70 covers a WINGS phase. You log the flight and ground time as usual (61.51(a)(1)). Sending an FAA Form 8710-1 to the Airmen Certification Branch is optional (AC 61-98E 1.10.2).
If the review is unsatisfactory, the instructor logs the session as "dual instruction given" and does not write a failure (AC 61-98E 4.4.1). You keep PIC privileges until your existing 24 calendar months run out, then you need the endorsement before you act as PIC again.
Mistakes pilots make
- Counting 24 months from the day of the review. It runs to the last day of the 24th calendar month, so a review on 3 May 2025 is good through 31 May 2027.
- Treating one WINGS seminar as a flight review. 61.56(e) needs a completed phase, and AC 61-91K 7.3 says a phase includes flight activities where you demonstrate proficiency.
- Assuming an IPC from a CFII is also a flight review. 61.56(d)(1) names checks by an examiner, an approved check airman or a U.S. Armed Force; a CFII can run both together under 61.56(h) and sign two endorsements.
- Doing the flight part in an aviation training device. The ACS says an ATD cannot be used for it, and a simulator or FTD counts only in an approved Part 142 course.
- Losing the endorsement. The review counts only with the logbook endorsement (61.56(c)(2)), so photograph it the day it is signed.
What Off Chocks tracks
- Your flight review is a credential you enter in Credentials (the BFR suggestion under Checks & Tests) with its expiry date; Off Chocks reminds you before it runs out, on the lead time you choose.
- Off Chocks does not work out the 24-calendar-month date for you and does not decide whether a check replaced the review. You enter the date from your logbook endorsement.
- The FAA 8710-1 and IACRA summary exports give you the time totals if you choose to file a Form 8710-1 after the review.
Common questions
- Is it still called a BFR?
- Pilots still say biennial flight review, but 14 CFR 61.56 calls it a flight review. The rule is the same: 1 hour of ground and 1 hour of flight training, endorsed, every 24 calendar months.
- Does my airline or charter proficiency check count as a flight review?
- 61.56(d)(1) waives the review for a pilot proficiency check conducted by an examiner or an approved pilot check airman within the 24 calendar months. Check with your operator that your check meets that wording.
- Can I fail a flight review?
- The FAA treats it as training. If you do not meet the standard, the instructor logs dual instruction given and does not endorse the review (AC 61-98E 4.4.1). Your current review stays valid until its 24 months end.
- Does a new rating reset my flight review?
- Yes. Passing a practical test conducted by an examiner for a pilot certificate, rating or operating privilege meets 61.56(d)(1), and your 24 calendar months run from that test.
- Do I need a flight review in each category I fly?
- 61.56 asks for a review in an aircraft for which you are rated, not one per category. SFAR 73 adds separate requirements for Robinson R22 and R44 pilots.
Sources
- 14 CFR 61.56 Flight review (eCFR, up to date as of 27 Oct 2026)
- 14 CFR 61.1 Applicability and definitions: authorized instructor (eCFR)
- AC 61-98E Currency Requirements and Guidance for the Flight Review and Instrument Proficiency Check (FAA, 30 Oct 2024)
- AC 61-65K Certification: Pilots and Flight and Ground Instructors, endorsements A.69 and A.70 (FAA, 14 Nov 2025)
- AC 61-91K WINGS Pilot Proficiency Program (FAA, 30 Oct 2024)
- FAA-S-ACS-8C Instrument Rating Airplane ACS, use of ATDs (FAA)
This is a plain-words summary to help you keep your own records, not legal advice. The regulation and your operator's procedures always take precedence.