If someone wanted to combine the night qualification in the PPL, I would do it after they have covered navigation, towards the end of the course.
The main difference at night is in the landing, so ultimately you need to be able to land safely and consistently during the day before you can even start doing so at night. A good intro to night is to start doing circuits just before sunset, and finish about 20-30 mins after official night, you get to see the gradual change which can really bring out the main points you are trying to cover.
At night it is more difficult to judge your height above the runway while you flare which leads to a tenancy to round out high. It is also more difficult to judge terrain clearance, so you need a good idea of what perspective you are looking for on the runway with the lighting available, preferably backing this up with PAPI or something similar early on. All of these things really need a good rooted appreciation of the day approach.
Navigation at night is the same as it is during the day, you just have to select suitable waypoints which are visible at night - not a lake or a forest, preferably a nice big town. This is only touched on in the night rating, the main focus is on the landings.
Last edited by RTN11; 30th October 2012 at 13:22.