Personal Minimums

These values come from the AOPA Air Safety Institute VFR Pilot Personal Minimums Contract. They were last updated 2019-09-01.

Pilot

Limitation	Last 30 days	Last 90 days
Min. hours		3
Min. hours in type		3
Min landings	1
Night hours (if flying at night)	1	3

✓ VFR into IMC training completed within last 12 months ✓ Min. recurrent training completed: 12 months

At a minimum, my overall wellness should be:

Adequate	OK	Well	Very well
		✓

Weather

See also: Weather

Limitation	Value
Max. wind velocity	20 kt
Max. gust factor	10 kt
Max. crosswind	10 kt
Min. ceiling	Day Night Pattern 1600 ft AGL 3000 ft AGL Local (<50 nm) 3000 5000 Cross country (>50 nm) 4000 5000
Min. visibility	Day 5 mi; night 10 mi

Airport

Limitation	Value
Runway min. length	3000 ft
Runway min. width	50 ft

For every 1,000 ft increase in density altitude, add 50% to POH takeoff/landing distance over a 50-foot obstacle

Aircraft

Minimum Fuel Reserves

Day	Night
1:00 hr	1:30 hr

✓ Night flight in single-engine aircraft

Limitation: No mountainous terrain

I will

✓ Only fly when I am proficient with the aircraft limitations, performance, normal and emergency procedures, systems, and avionics.
✓ Use precautions when transitioning to different aircraft/avionics/systems.
✓ Consider the risks of flying over mountainous terrain.
✓ Fly with a current GPS database, charts (or EFB), and a backup (as required).
✓ Consider increasing my personal minimums if friends and family are on board.
✓ Always get a recorded FAA weather briefing and file/activate a flight plan for flights away from home base.
✓ Fly with a qualified or CFI (or postpone the flight) if my personal minimums are not met.