View Full Version : Calculation of night flying time
GSLOC
24th Nov 2010, 15:20
Good day dear aviators
Could someone post method of night time calculation for logbook purposes. If possible, with example. Please do not refer to software that does it automatically.
Thanx
27/09
24th Nov 2010, 17:13
Quite simple, any time you are flying between the hours of ECT (evening civil twilight) and MCT (morning civil twilight).
Is there anything more to it than that?
GSLOC
24th Nov 2010, 20:02
I think it's far more advanced than that statement.
Say you departed at night, 0300. Departure airfield morning civil twilight is 0500. You travelling to the west. How to calculate time spent en-route in "night time"? Clearly "night time" in this case extends after 0500AM since you are travelling to the west. Should you calculate morning-evening civil twilight for every mile of the route and then add together night time? What is the logic behind en-route night-time calculation, should average ground speed be taken into account?
Confused :ugh:
MISSED APCH
24th Nov 2010, 20:38
gsloc, when youre flying, and the sun comes up. make a note of the time in utc.
or in the case you see the sunset, you make a note of the time in utc.
later that day when you are doing your logbook, you see what time you flew in darkness.
im pretty sure there are a million things and rules and guidelines etc. but in the end, noone is gonna double check the date and sunset times and your distance out of yourr departing station towards where you were flying. just fill in your logbook as accurate as you can, and itll be fine !!
make sure you dont lie
TopBunk
24th Nov 2010, 20:53
just fill in your logbook as accurate as you can, and itll be fine !!
exactly - look out of the window and when it gets dark start counting!
Round up or down as appropriate and the remainder of the flight is day!
Over time it will all balance out - and by the time you have to count the hours, it won't be an issue anyway.
Of my xx,xxx hours on the B747, surprise surprise it was 50:50 day:night.
MISSED APCH
24th Nov 2010, 20:58
back then when i was on the shuttle it came out 50:50 as well
compressor stall
24th Nov 2010, 21:45
Yep - you should be able to work it out after flight. Note when it got dark / light and simple arithmetic is your friend.
Not that I do that any more - my logbook does it automatically for me these days. I pop in the dept and dest, the off blocks and on blocks times and the right columns are filled in. Magic. :D
Dave Clarke Fife
25th Nov 2010, 19:59
If you've got an i-phone download Log Ten Mobile................works it all out for you
compressor stall
26th Nov 2010, 18:41
That's the one I was talking about. Works a treat - except the night time calcs seem a bit out below 65S, but I suspect that won't bother too many others here... :8
I use log 10 pro as well, and it works a treat.
In addition, I use to guess my night time prior to using this software, and when I transferred all my time to log 10, I found my guesses were very close to what it was giving.
In addition, aside from needing 100 hours night time for the ATPL upgrade, what else do you need it for?
Highly unlikely I'd say, to have 1500 hrs total time for ATPL and not have done 15-20% at night, which will be more then enough that the CAA require.
boredcounter
27th Nov 2010, 01:03
Day VMC? All your gadgets get it?
handrew
28th Jul 2013, 16:48
The simple calculation does not exist. (If you do not want to determine when the sun is below 6 degrees relative to horizont). You can use app for that e. g. Flight log or the flight night time app from AppStore.
bucket_and_spade
28th Jul 2013, 17:04
I think it can get a bit involved so, as I'm flying for an airline, I would designate a flight 'day' or 'night' and log it accordingly. It's a practical approach. I can't see any reason why, at this level ('unfrozen' ATPL), having the exact breakdown is very useful.
I've just upgraded to an e-logbook and, of course, this does all the donkey work for me!
BizJetJock
29th Jul 2013, 07:21
Question: - "How many night hours have you got?"
Answer: - "Enough!"
Capt Fathom
29th Jul 2013, 12:21
Come on, it's not rocket science!
Sun goes down, Sun comes up! Note the times, if you're pedantic!
Surely there are more important things to worry about?
AvEnthusiast
29th Jul 2013, 13:17
let me make it a bit more complicated. Can you log this night time as instrument time? Actually how do you log Instrument time? all commercial flights are IFR Operated I mean an IFR flight plan filled and it's obvious you will be flying based on instrument (chasing the flight director) even if you are in VMC. So now do you log all commercial time as instrument time or no you need to be in IMC. or no you can break down the hours of flight to what you were actually flying e.g taxi time visual, take off Instrument, cruise... landing...
sometime you can me things quite difficult
Happy Bird
1st Mar 2014, 17:51
Hello everybody !
I need to fill up hours in a log book for last year flights, to make a new log book.
Could anyone sagest a good link on the net that will show to me all of the particulars for a certain date and the flight number , including the night flying ?
Appreciate all of the useful information !
Mr.Falcon
3rd Mar 2014, 12:44
night flying calculator - CrewLogbook (http://www.crewlogbook.com/utilities/night_calculator.php)
172510
25th Mar 2023, 10:15
night flying calculator - CrewLogbook (http://www.crewlogbook.com/utilities/night_calculator.php)
They calculate night time between SS and SR, not from twilight to twilight
Denti
25th Mar 2023, 14:29
They calculate night time between SS and SR, not from twilight to twilight
Quite honestly, who cares really? In commercial aviation we do fly IFR close to or at 100% of the time and night time does not play any role at all for license renewal. The only time it was important was during initial flight training, but at no point after that.
what next
25th Mar 2023, 19:39
Quite honestly, who cares really? In commercial aviation we do fly IFR close to or at 100% of the time and night time does not play any role at all for license renewal. The only time it was important was during initial flight training, but at no point after that.
For a private pilot with no instrument rating it can be important if he wants to stay legal regarding the 90-day rule.
awair
25th Mar 2023, 20:21
For a private pilot with no instrument rating it can be important if he wants to stay legal regarding the 90-day rule.
Two very different situations here:
In the case of private privileges & recency, you won’t be flying far. Check the Almanac for night time at your departure & destination. Or in the case of the FAA, time of sunset (and add an hour).
For those flying professionally - see above.
Good luck.