Definition
A regulatory and practical concept referring to how recently a pilot has performed specific flight operations, used to determine whether the pilot is currently qualified and proficient to act as pilot in command under given conditions. For instrument flying, FAR 61.57 sets minimum recent experience requirements -- such as having performed, within the preceding six calendar months, a specified number of instrument approaches, holding procedures, and intercepting and tracking courses using navigation systems.
Plain English
How recently you have actually flown the kind of flying you are about to do. The rules require you to have done certain tasks recently enough that your skills are still sharp and legally current.
Context Anchor
Seen when deciding whether a pilot is legally ready to fly by instruments, especially before flying in clouds, low visibility, or under instrument flight rules.
Derivation
Recency comes from the Latin recens, meaning 'fresh' or 'new.' The phrase highlights that what matters is not whether you have ever done something, but whether you have done it recently enough for the skill to still be fresh.
Why Pilots Care
Failing to meet recency requirements makes certain flights illegal until the pilot regains currency through additional practice.
Intuition Check
Do not read this as simply “I flew recently” or “I feel comfortable.” In FAA use, recency of experience means specific required tasks were completed and logged within a required time period.
Example Sentence 1
Before filing IFR for the trip, she checked her logbook to confirm her recency of experience met the six approaches, holding, and tracking requirements.
Example Sentence 2
After losing instrument recency of experience, the pilot flew several practice approaches under the hood to regain currency.