SFAR No. 120 Powered-Lift Currency

The FAA established its powered-lift pilot certification and operating framework in 2024 with Special Federal Aviation Regulation (SFAR) No. 120, codified as 14 CFR Part 194. The SFAR is a transitional rule: the FAA has indicated it intends to replace it with permanent regulations over its ten-year life, but the timing and final form of those rules are not yet set.

The recent flight experience rule itself is 14 CFR §61.57(a), applied to the powered-lift category: at least three takeoffs and three landings in a powered-lift within the preceding 90 days, performed as the sole manipulator of the flight controls — and in the same type, if a type rating is required. Under §61.57(a)(3), the takeoffs and landings may also be accomplished in a full flight simulator or flight training device approved by the FAA for landings and used in an approved course at a part 142 training center.

When the third-most-recent takeoff or landing rolls out of the 90-day window, currency lapses — but the rule is conditional, not a grounding. §61.57(a)(1) attaches only to acting as pilot in command of an aircraft carrying persons, or of an aircraft certificated for more than one pilot flight crewmember.

§61.57(a)(2) is the way back: a pilot may act as PIC under day VFR or day IFR to re-establish recent flight experience, provided no persons or property are carried on board other than those necessary for the conduct of the flight. Carrying persons at night adds §61.57(b)(1), a separate 90-day count of full-stop landings flown between one hour after sunset and one hour before sunrise — being day-current does not make you night-current.

This calculator runs entirely in your browser. AeroCopilot receives no event data. For automatic tracking from your logbook, AeroCopilot pilots receive a live SFAR No. 120 currency widget on the eVTOL dashboard.