The real dangers of Black Night VFR.

[Not_Another_Pot]

Stallie, I think you'll find that you can't book IF time when under NVFR.

NAPpy

[compressor stall]

G'Day N_A_P,

As Denis Denuto said it's the "vibe your honour", but I challenge you to show me the law in ink.


There are several parallel issues here floating around in this thread.

Can you log IF on a dark night outside of the cloud
Can you log IF when NVFR - or even VFR (those who have flown in a Territory dry know what I mean)
Can you fly NVFR with no horizon
And should you fly NVFR with no horizon?

Yes, yes, yes and no!

[Not_Another_Pot]

Well if that is the case mate, I'm many IF hours short in my log book!

What about this then. Not current NVFR but are current IFR.

Can you fly NVFR?

I'll try to find the reg where I saw it and then you can buy me a beer..... Well Gin only these days

NAPpy

[Counter-rotation]

Yeah that's another funny one, you can go IFR at night if you're current for IFR (duh) but in "being current" there is no night requirement.
3 t/o and landings is for your LICENCE, and only applies if others are on board with you...

Currency for NVFR has a certain amount/type of night required...

To fly NVFR with the authority of IFR rating requires recency which is at least equal to that of NVFR.

So, if you're not current for NVFR, then no NVFR regardless of your IFR currency status.

If you are current IFR, you can fly at night, regardless of how much night you've flown in the past month/year/decade. But you've got to be in an IFR machine, complying with the IFR, and if it's not going to be just you on board (plus maybe your freight of choice), you've got to have your 3 ups/downs in 90 days.

Hows that?


CR

[McGowan]

I could well be wrong, certainly wouldn't be the first time, but, if you are IF at night and are on approach to somewhere in cloud, do you not go IFR to NVFR once you are visual???? I know that this is really splitting hairs but you are not IF all the ay to the ground. Every time you finish an approach at night from IFR you end up NVFR, with that in mind, the currency requirements for NVFR would be met!!

[Counter-rotation]

Mc Gowan...

I think I see what you're getting at, but I disagree...

In the scenario you've described, I would think that you are still "IFR", but now also satisfy the requirements of being "visual" (you can of course be visual whilst IFR - it's defined in AIP.). Circling is described for both day and night.

You haven't changed category from IFR to (N)VFR...

Only my thoughts...

CR.

[jb05]

i think all u guys are getting too technical here, its obvious that all pilots are rated for day VFR and if u are also rated for IFR and are current for this then it should stand to reason using common sense(not saying here that the law makers have any of this!) that u should be allowed to fly night VFR.afterall night VFR is really a combination of both disciplines when flown correctly,visual flightbacked up by a good secondary scan of the instruments and in some cases where there are no visual cues(eg rotation or turning base in a high wing ac at a location with no surrounding visual cues as jfk jr found out)can be momentarily pure IFR..what it all comes down to is being honest with yourself about your own ability before setting off or continuing if conditions aren't within your capability.this is not just applicable to night flying either.maybe the crosswind that night is ok for day operations but at night it makes the whole thing just not worth attempting.in my opinion there are too many pilots who believe that just because they are current and the regs say its within limits then that makes it ok to go even though the flight may not be within their capabilities.another thing about single engine night flight, a mate of mine the other day told me i was a pessimist and the chances of engine failure were remote and you'd have to be unlucky. then another mate who is an experienced fighter pilot and instructor came up with the best reply. Give murphy a chance....