Going over ground that previous posters have covered in some detail but the following extracts come from an accident report at
http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/...200300224.aspx in which a friend lost his life.
Asymmetric flight at night was not precluded by regulation. However, guidance provided to pilots contained in the Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP) stated that simulated asymmetric flight at night must not be conducted below 1,500 ft AGL. Civil Aviation Advisory Publication (CAAP) 5.23-1 (0) provided guidance on a syllabus of training, which included night asymmetric circuits. A note in that publication reminded the reader that the condition in AIP, which effectively precluded these operations from the circuit area at night, applied. However, no guidance was given on how to reconcile the conduct of asymmetric night circuit operations with the height limitation in AIP.
A night asymmetric training accident involving a SA227-AC Metroliner, VH-NEJ, at Tamworth on 16 September 1995 (Occurrence report BO/199503057), was investigated by the then Bureau of Air Safety Investigation (BASI), which issued the following interim recommendation on 01 May 1996:
`IR 950224
The Bureau of Air Safety Investigation recommends that the Civil Aviation Safety Authority amend the Civil Aviation Regulations and the Civil Aviation Orders to ensure that when a provision of the Aeronautical Information Publication specifically prohibits certain manoeuvres and procedures, then this prohibition has legal force which is reflected in relevant Civil Aviation Regulations and Civil Aviation Orders.
The Bureau of Air Safety Investigation recommends that the Civil Aviation Safety Authority take appropriate steps to inform and educate the industry on the hazards involved in asymmetric training operations in conditions of low visibility and at night.’
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority responded to the recommendation 01 August 1996, stating:
`I refer to your interim recommendation IR950224 concerning the accident involving SA227 AC, VH NEJ at Tamworth on 16 September 1995. I apologise for the delay in forwarding the following comments.
The Regulatory Structure and Validation Project (RSVP), which is the first stage of a two stage review of existing civil aviation regulations, is currently being finalised by CASA. The RSVP will, inter alia, rectify the problems identified in the first paragraph of the BASI recommendation. In addition, CASA endorses the recommendation in the second paragraph of IR950224 and will produce an article in the summer issue of the Flight Safety Australia magazine on the hazards of asymmetric training operations in conditions of low visibility and at night.’
The risks associated with low level asymmetric operations at night were identified and addressed in May 1996 in Interim Recommendation IR19950224. Regulatory and education action that was addressed by CASA in its response to the recommendation in August 1996 has yet to be fully implemented.
Planned low-level asymmetric flight at night is considered to be an unacceptable risk because, unlike daylight conditions, the pilot may neither know about, nor be able to see, any obstacles in the aircraft’s changed flight path in order to take avoiding action.
Vale Les. Good friend Trevor Brougham also came to grief under similar circumstances. Vale too Trev.
Good luck with the training and as they used to say in the TV cop show "Be careful up there".