Definition
An FAA pilot certificate rating that authorizes a helicopter pilot to operate under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) and to fly approaches, departures, and en route segments in instrument meteorological conditions. It is earned by meeting specific training, experience, and testing requirements set out in 14 CFR Part 61, and it is added to a pilot's existing helicopter certificate.
Plain English
It is the official add-on to a helicopter pilot's license that lets them legally fly in clouds and low-visibility weather using only the cockpit instruments to navigate.
Context Anchor
Seen in helicopter instrument procedure discussions, especially when a procedure is limited to helicopters or when deciding whether a pilot is qualified to fly a helicopter approach in instrument conditions.
Derivation
Instrument comes from an older word meaning a tool or aid. In aviation, the instruments are the cockpit tools that show things like attitude, altitude, direction, and speed. Rating can sound like a score, but in FAA use it means an official qualification placed on a pilot certificate.
Why Pilots Care
Without this rating, a helicopter pilot is restricted to visual flight and cannot legally fly approaches like the copter-only procedures shown in the IFR chart suite. Holding the rating opens up IFR routes, low-weather operations, and many commercial helicopter jobs (EMS, offshore, utility) that require it.
Intuition Check
Do not read rating as a score or review. Here, a rating is an official FAA qualification. Do not read instrument helicopter as a special kind of helicopter. It means instrument-flying privileges for helicopters.
Example Sentence 1
She added an instrument helicopter rating to her commercial certificate so she could fly the hospital's medical transport helicopter at night and in low weather.
Example Sentence 2
The instrument helicopter rating training includes practice with helicopter-specific missed approach procedures.