piperboy84

What does a UK night rating cover? is it a skinny IR that trains you how to shoot instruments approaches and accept IFR clearances but no flying airways ?

meleagertoo

No, that's an IMC rating.
A night ratng is exactly what it says it is, a rating to fly VFR at night,

piperboy84

So only good with destination and available alternatives that have lit runways then?

Sam Rutherford

Yup, it's that simple - just allows you to fly when it gets dark.

As it happens, the lack of obligatory attached IMC training means that it's potentially very dangerous should you be over the mountains or sea (no ground lights) on an overcast (no stars) night - possibly achieving a full IMC effect whilst legally VMC.

I have a friend who uses exactly this situation to legally teach IMC actual flying in VMC only aircraft. Over the prairie in Canada...

Pilot DAR

In Canada, it is required to demonstrate some limited instrument flying skills to earn a night rating. That's because of the risk of blundering into IMC at night (particularly in falling snow). But, without an IR, there are no flight in IMC privileges. As Sam points out, there are many occasions where night flying is effectively flight without reference to the surface, even thought there is visibility. Night operations from my home runway are no visual reference within 200 feet of the surface, instruments only, until I'm high enough to see lights miles away. Serious instrument flying discipline is required even thought the privilege is not granted.

NorthSouth

Well not quite. It's a rating to fly in VMC at night. You can choose to do that under the IFR or the VFR. Until SERA came along, all night flying outside controlled airspace in the UK was IFR.

BackPacker

NS is right but in a convoluted way. The Night Rating is normally a prerequisite for the Instrument Rating. If you get an IR without an NR (rare but it happens), your IR will be annotated as "valid by day only". So you can't fly at night under VFR or IFR then.

this is my username

An EASA PPL includes some flying by reference to instruments. The LAPL doesn't. To add a night rating to a LAPL then completion of the PPL instrument flying module is a pre-req.

BillieBob

In Europe, this is true only if you hold an instrument rating.

Gertrude the Wombat

I did some IR(R) lessons at night - I haven't done a night rating.

On the climb out there was nothing to see at all so I was straight onto instruments. I would really not have been happy at all if I wasn't confident keeping the aircraft the right way up by looking at the dials.