Do Flight Hours Expire When There's a Lapse in Training?

[Photo by Carly Chamerlik | Flying Magazine]

Question: I am a return-to-flying client. I pursued a private pilot certificate years ago then had to stop when life got in the way. It's been 10 years since I last flew. I was doing solo cross-country flights when I was forced to quit. I still have my logbook with my hours. When I went to a local flight school to see about finishing my training, the CFI I spoke with—and who looked at my logbook—told me that none of my hours would count and I would need to repeat everything. Is this correct?

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Answer: Provided the previous flight experience was properly logged and endorsed if required, those hours should count toward certification. They don't expire. However, skills and knowledge do get rusty.

The prudent thing to do for both you and the CFI is to review the flight maneuvers and knowledge for pre-solo, along with a dual cross-country flight to determine the soft spots in your training so you can come up with a plan of action. Insist on the use of a syllabus to hold both you and the CFI accountable. Congratulations on your decision to return to the sky!

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Meg GodlewskiAuthor

Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.