Longest night flight in a single piston?

[Crosswind Limits]

For me it was Key West to Kissimmee earlier this year in a Piper Warrior (flew via the Florida Keys for obvious reasons). The entire non-stop flight was conducted during the hours of darkness. Can't quite remember the distance but it was over 300nm I believe and took about 3.5 hours. Quite an experience flying over all that pitch black Everglade! Boy was I relieved to see KISM, although I produced a shocker of a landing due to fatigue and getting the runway lighting intensity a little wrong!:eek:

Anyone else care to share their experiences?

[Eckhard]

I had to get about another 3.5 hours of night P1 to qualify for the CPL/IR via the '700hrs' route in the late 70's. As it was mid-summer, it meant taking off at about 2200.

I hired a Grumman AA-5 and routed Elstree to Manchester. I guess in those days you could land IFR at MAN with just an IMC rating? After landing and refuelling we flew Special VFR across the LHR zone at 3000ft at around midnight. The controller was obviously bored, as he let me fly a visual approach and GA to 28L! (He made me go around from 1000ft though.)

Then it was off to Gatwick for another couple of approaches before turning north for our eventual destination, Luton.

Picked up the Grumman the next afternoon and the licence a few weeks (and a few £k) later.

[VFE]

Took a 172 from Melbourne, Florida up to Princeton, New Jersey and back last month, the last six hours of the return leg being done VFR down the south east coast at night. Good fun untill wx went tits and we had to go IFR and do an ILS approach in 800ft cloud base into Charleston. That's when the radio went dead.

Where do I collect my prize? :D

VFE.

[chiglet]

Two spring to mind.....
"Spirit of St Louis" Trans Atlantic], and a rew years later, the Vickers Wellsey [Cairo to Cape Town, and {I Think} Cairo to Oz].
Also seen some U.S. dep to Germany s/e ferries
we aim to please, it keeps the cleaners happy

[compressor stall]

There used to be a newspaper run run by the then Air North from Darwin - Katherine - Tennant Creek - Alice Springs in a C210 at night. 792 nautical miles....That was also in the wet (monsoon) season!

I used to feel very sorry for those boys and girls. Often I'd be lying in my bed at around 10pm, and listening to the roar of the rain and thunder, then the unique drone of a 210 came past....

[manuel ortiz]

Capt. Bill Judd did quite a long one with a Cessna 180.

Year 1956 , New York to Paris , + 3600 miles in about 24 hrs.
He was actually trying to make it non stop to Cairo but icing came into play.
Landed with 97 gls.

Cessna 180 , what a good aircraft that is ...

Manuel
DC-3 >>>> A-320

[DB6]

I managed to wring 4hrs 20 mins from a Firefly 260 earlier this year in a vain attempt to get 100 hrs night P1 in before the cutoff for CAA ATPL issue. Max. endurance settings work as advertised!

[AerBabe]

I'm sorry, I misread the title as "Longest night flight in a single position?" and was about to suggest the thread be moved to JetBlast :D :o

[Keef]

Now then, now then! :(

[pigboat]

A guy ferried a single Otter once from Honolulu to San Francisco in 26 hours. A UAL crew talked to him after takeoff HNL, and the same crew talked to him again before he arrived SFO. They'd completed the trip, had their layover and were on their way back. He landed SFO with plenty of gas, but only two gallons of oil in the tank. The engine would have run out of oil before it ran out of gas.:)

[Not_Another_Pot]

For me it was 9 hours from QLD to WA with a stop for fuel in Alice.

Took off in the dark and landed in the dark!

**** of a trip, nothing to do.

It was in a Mooney.

NAP:D