How do I keep my PPL current?

Your licence never expires, but your medical does. To exercise the privileges of a PPL — including flying solo or carrying passengers — you must hold a valid medical certificate. If your medical lapses, you can't legally fly as pilot in command until it's renewed.

Class 2 medical renewal intervals depend on your age:

Don't leave your medical renewal until it has already lapsed. Book ahead — AMEs can have waiting times, and you can't fly solo or carry passengers on an expired medical.

Unlike the PPL licence itself, the class rating attached to it does expire. Most PPL holders fly on an SEP(land) — Single Engine Piston, land — class rating. Under FCL.740.A of the UK Aircrew Regulation, that rating is valid for 24 months from the date of issue or last revalidation.

If your SEP rating lapses, you cannot legally fly as pilot in command — even if your medical is current and your licence is in date. This catches returning pilots out more than almost anything else.

To revalidate within the validity period, FCL.740.A offers two routes:

When revalidating via the experience route, the new 24-month validity period runs from the original expiry date — not from when you completed the training flight. There's nothing to gain by leaving it to the last minute.

The PPL itself doesn't require any minimum hours per year to remain valid — but your passenger-carrying privilege does. To carry passengers, you must have completed at least three take-offs and full-stop landings in the preceding 90 days in the same class of aircraft. The same rule applies to night flying if you carry passengers after dark.

There's no currency requirement for solo flight beyond having a valid medical. That said, flying with a significant gap in your logbook is not something to take lightly. Skills degrade. If you've been away from flying for more than a few months, a refresher lesson with an instructor before flying solo is good practice, regardless of what the regulations require.

There is no CAA-mandated biennial flight review for a UK PPL. However, Fife Flight Centre requires pilots who hire from our fleet to complete a periodic check with one of our instructors. This is our own policy — it exists because we take the safety of our aircraft and the pilots who fly them seriously.

The check is a straightforward flight with an instructor: a review of your general handling, circuits, and any areas you'd like to refresh. It's not a test and there's no pass/fail — it's a chance to make sure you're flying well and to address anything that has drifted since you last flew regularly.

If you've had a long gap from flying, this check is also an opportunity to rebuild confidence before going solo again. Most pilots find it genuinely useful rather than a box-ticking exercise.