The Instrument Rating is one of those ratings where “good enough” is not actually good enough. The details matter, the workload stacks fast, and small gaps in knowledge can turn into falling behind the airplane on an IFR flight.
So for IFR Month, we pulled together five free resources we keep coming back to. These are the kinds of tools that help you brief approaches more effectively and efficiently, make better decisions, and stay sharp between training flights. A couple of resources are ours, a couple are from others in the industry, and all of them are worth bookmarking.
1) Choosing and Setting Up an Instrument Approach Guide (Sporty’s)
If you ever feel like approach plates are “simple” until you’re in actual and you’re talking to ATC, this guide is for you. This free reference guide focuses on practical instrument procedure concepts to build confidence and improve real-world IFR decision making. What we like is the tone: clear, practical, and pilot-friendly. It’s not trying to turn you into a walking FAR/AIM. It’s trying to help you make the approach plate make sense with fewer surprises. It’s also excerpted from PilotWorkshops’ IFR Procedures Manual, which is one of the most pilot-friendly ways to learn IFR systems thinking.
IFR Focus is built for pilots who want practical IFR thinking. It mixes articles, videos, quizzes, and webinars so you can train the way real proficiency actually happens: small reps, often. You’ll find stuff like instrument maneuver spotlights, quick video tips, and knowledge checks that change how you think with what you think you know versus what you can actually execute.
3) AOPA Air Safety Institute: Beyond Proficient IFR Series
AOPA’s Air Safety Institute put together a Beyond Proficient IFR video series that walks through IFR flying in the departure, en route, and approach profiles with a safety-focused lens. The topics are the kind of real-world IFR things that actually move the needle (no pun intended), like stabilized approaches and task saturation, approach clearances, flight plan filing, thorough weather planning, and managing weather deviations.
4) Sporty’s IFR Blog Collection
We’ve got an entire IFR section on our blog, including an “Intro to IFR Question” series that tackles the questions pilots ask when they’re learning or getting current. The goal is simple: demystify IFR by answering common instrument flying questions in a way that’s clear and usable. This is perfect when you want quick clarity on topics like takeoff minimums, required equipment, holding patterns, weather categories, and more.
5) Pilot’s Cafe: IFR Quick Review Study Guide
The IFR Quick Review Study Guide is designed as a final review tool that condenses critical IFR knowledge into one easy-to-digest “brain dump” style guide. It’s also “pay what you want,” including the option to contribute $0, which keeps it accessible. It covers a wide sweep of the stuff you get asked on checkrides and in real IFR flying, like recency, required documents, alternates, takeoff minimums, DPs and STARs, IFR clearances, altitudes, and more.
