How often is pilot recurrent training required? The FAA answer and the policy answer

Access Flight Training ServicesPublished 2026-11-02Revised 2026-11-046 min read

Most insurers require initial transition training and then recurrent training every year. That is broker BWI's summary of the King Air market, dated June 28, 2026. Open 14 CFR Part 61 to see how often pilot recurrent training is required for the same airplane flown single pilot under Part 91, and the numbers change: 24 calendar months, 6 calendar months and 90 days, none of them attached to a course called recurrent.

How often is pilot recurrent training required?

Two sources answer that, and they do not keep the same calendar.

For a single-pilot airplane that is not turbojet-powered, no FAA clock in this table calls for a yearly course. That is our reading of 61.56 through 61.58. The yearly course comes from the insurance side.

What does the FAA require every 24 calendar months?

A flight review. Under 61.56(a) it is a minimum of 1 hour of flight training and 1 hour of ground training, covering the Part 91 general operating and flight rules and maneuvers at the reviewer's discretion. Under 61.56(c) it has to be done in an aircraft for which you are rated, with an authorized instructor's logbook endorsement.

The substitutes are narrow. Paragraph (d) lists a proficiency check or practical test by an examiner, an approved check airman or a U.S. Armed Force, and certain flight instructor practical tests. Paragraph (e) credits phases of an FAA-sponsored proficiency program, WINGS.

Finishing a recurrent course resets the flight review clock only if the course included a review and your logbook shows the endorsement. If you want a yearly course to carry the review, say so when you book. 61.56(h) lets the instructor accomplish it in combination with 61.57 and other recent experience requirements.

What recent experience does 14 CFR 61.57 require?

General currency under paragraph (a) is 3 takeoffs and 3 landings within the preceding 90 days as sole manipulator, in the same category, class, and type if a type rating is required. A full stop is required only for tailwheel. Night currency under (b) is 3 of each to a full stop within 90 days.

Under IFR, the look-back is 6 calendar months before the month of the flight: six instrument approaches, holding procedures and tasks, and intercepting and tracking courses. Paragraph (c)(2) allows an FFS, FTD or ATD for this.

Miss that and the rule still gives you room. An IPC is required only after a person "has failed to meet the instrument experience requirements of paragraph (c) of this section for more than six calendar months." We read that to mean that in the first six months after a lapse, you can still log the tasks with a safety pilot or a device. Who may give the check is covered in can a CFI do an IPC.

Does 14 CFR 61.58 apply to a single-pilot turboprop?

Usually not, and the place to look is your data sheet. 61.58 applies to the pilot in command of an aircraft "type certificated for more than one required pilot flight crewmember or is turbojet-powered." Where it applies, it means a check within 12 calendar months in such an aircraft and within 24 in the particular type. 61.58(b) takes out persons conducting operations under Part 91 subpart K, 121, 125, 133, 135 or 137.

FAA data sheets A24CE (King Air 200, 300 and 350), A23SO (Cheyenne III and 400LS) and A78EU (PC-12) show minimum crew one pilot, so we read 61.58 as not reaching those airplanes. The exception we saw is the King Air 300 "FF serials," minimum crew two pilots (A24CE p.31, Note 10). We found no minimum crew line on the FAA sheets for the TBM, Caravan, Conquest II or Commander, so check your AFM.

What does an insurance policy require, and how often?

We found no published underwriting guide from any insurer on turboprop training minimums, so the public evidence is broker statements. They lean the same way:

• BWI on the King Air, June 28, 2026: most insurers require initial transition and annual recurrent training, with simulator training often preferred or required.
• BWI on the TBM, May 27, 2026: initial transition and annual recurrent training typically required, with simulator training strongly preferred.
• Ndemnifly, undated and written mainly about jets and turbine aircraft in general: carriers expect factory school initial and recurrent training, typically annual.

Treat those as market color. BWI itself cautions, in an October 23, 2026 guide, that its sample policy does not establish a universal annual rule. All three statements are about turbine airplanes, and we have no broker statement to quote for a piston.

Twice a year does appear in public, in a different context. Global Aerospace's Vista Elite program asks for enrollment in a manufacturer-approved simulator-based program two times annually, tied to policyholder dividends of up to 10.5% of premium. It pays dividends, and coverage does not depend on it.

Meeting the FAA's clocks does not satisfy a policy's training clause, and the policy's wording decides what does.

How to read the training clause in your policy

The first step is your broker, and the answers should come in writing. Ask three things:

1. Which wording governs? Look at the pilot clause and endorsements in your issued policy. A quote or a summary can differ.
2. How is the time measured? BWI's guide warns against assuming that the renewal date, the calendar year and a period since your last course are interchangeable.
3. Does the clause name a format? We have found no insurer's public statement accepting in-aircraft recurrent in place of a simulator for an owner-flown turboprop. Sunset Aviation Insurance wrote in July 2024 that insurers tend to prefer simulators at $10 million and up in value and $50 million and up in liability limits, and that it is negotiable.

Each underwriter decides for each pilot and airplane, as how insurance approval works explains. If in-aircraft training qualifies for you, Access recurrent training runs 2 or 3 days in your own aircraft at your airport, with about 7 flight hours if required, at $2,550 for a PC-12; travel expenses are added when the instructor comes to you, and vary by location.

Then put the dates on one sheet: the month your flight review runs out, the month your instrument experience lapses, and the date your policy's training clause measures from.