Considerations at Night
 

Hi All,

100 (ish) hour PPL, just started my night rating (2.1 hours so far), tonight's lesson was night circuits.

My flying school have been very thorough in preparing me for the differences of night flying, and I have found it very different so far. However I always welcome as much input as possible, so does anyone out there have any experiences/advice/considerations for flying at night? All input welcome!

Thanks,

Three words: Petzl TacTikka Plus.

I would not want to fly at night without it. Not in your average spamcan with very poor (and often broken) cockpit lighting. Use the white & bright setting for the walkaround, then flip the red filter in place and reduce the brightness for in-cockpit use. Even if you're doing aerobatics at night you can't lose it and you have two hands free for flying and juggling maps.

(In contrast, on one IFR night lesson, the instructor forgot his own flashlight, borrowed my spare mini Maglite and managed to lose it no less than three times over a two-hour period. We managed to find it every time, but I don't want to think about what could happen if it would jam a cable somewhere. And at the end of the flight his drool from keeping it in his mouth was all over the place...:yuk:)

There's a slight disadvantage to using a red light in the cockpit though: some colors on the map will not be visible. I do not have experience with other colors filters but Petzl also does a model (TacTikka XP) which comes with various colors flip-on filters. YMMV.

Very easy to get lost at night, not least because illuminated areas on the ground don't correspond well with the shapes of towns on the map.

I've done a few night flights with instructors (i.e. without GPS) and I think we got lost on every one of them, so he couldn't really fail me :)

Night flight is IFR in all senses of the word. Radio navigation capability (GPS, VOR/DME) is essential, and IMHO nobody should do it unless instrument flight capable because - on a proper night (not the UK night logging night which starts 31 minutes after SS) - one can wonder into IMC and end up doing a "Kennedy".

On many nights, the temp and dewpoint tend to be pretty close and risk of fog is high, so carry extra juice for long diversions.

Backups are also more important e.g. a torch, a handheld radio, a GPS if flying WW2-style, etc.

I really enjoyed getting the night rating - stupendous views on a bright moonlit night, and wonderfully smooth air. I also managed to disappear into a cloud on the night cross country - quite a shock to see the milky reflection of the strives which 'freeze' the propeller. Even though I was fully prepared with IFR GPS, plates and an instrument rated instructor, the recovery & ILS was tough work. Without the IMCR I could not have pulled it off. So really don't even consider a night cross country in Northern Europe without IFR skills. My main motivation was to be able to obtain a Part 6.75 FAA cert without a day only endorsement, but I do use it in the UK to get home without the stress of making it before SS+30.

IO 540 makes a few good points here.

Have you flown into cloud at night yet in an aircraft with strobes? Most amusing.... Afterwards!! I would suggest polishing up your instrument skills too. If you haven't done an IMC yet, then do so.

The best nights are clear with a full moon. If it's been snowing that can be quite spectacular. You get a nice silvery shine everywhere, it's lovely.

I can't believe it - Gorilla waxing lyrical! I had two night circuits early in my training.....pure magic. Those circuits have stayed with me for 28 years. I want the IMC and night ratings.

As IO540 mentioned, at night, even CAVU VFR can suddenly become the equivilent of IFR if you head out over water, or another poorly lit part of the world. JFK jr. found this out the hard way, I hope we all learned (again).

Similarly, right after breaking ground on a takeoff toward a poorly lit area, pitch attitude can be difficult to judge. Get ready to refer to the attitude indicator in a hurry if you need to. Some hood experience vital!

If possible, do your walk round in the light of day, and update it pre-flight. After that, just accept everything takes that little bit longer - from strapping in to even reaching the pretty lights of the town in the 12 o'clock that is acually MUCH further away than it appears!!!! As far as kit goes, the military issue finger torch is a cracking bit of kit, I think it's available from Silvermanns. A bit hungry on the batteries, but will see you through a four hour flight alright. As for night nav, having done a fair bit in the past, accurate flight planning and ridgid adhearance to distance/time calcs will see you through. Trust your clock!
If you know you are doing 90, and you know you have been flying for 10 min, on an ACCURATE heading..... You know where you are! Don't panic or second guess yourself!!

Enjoy!!!

Thanks for the input guys. My next purchase is a Petzl TacTikka Plus - looks great.

I see what you mean about the need for IFR training (as it happens IMC is next on my list but I need to get the night rating done before the end of Feb otherwise it means waiting till Oct).

I was on 02LH at Shoreham last night and hadn't flown in 3 weeks or done circuits in a long while, so my first couple were a bit rusty. What I found was turning xwind to downwind was OK as you could see some lights/had a bit of a horizon. However, turning base to final was totally different as you're now looking out over the sea (no horizon - straight onto instruments). On one of my early circuits I managed to get the speed up to Vno in the turn. As I realised I had let the nose down I got the standard "more back pressure please!" from my instructor. It just felt so different!

Even though it's "just" a case of following the PAPIs on final, I still found the approach harder than by day (even things like I couldn't just glance at the flap lever to double/triple check the flaps are where I think they are on final), especially in the last few hundred feet.

I guess you've got to get used to it?

Cheers,

Matt, im also doing my night training. Just need an extra hour and a bit. I have really struggled with the weather though, i.e it has taken me all winter!!

I've not done my IMC yet either but hopefully will get round to it later this year.

For me, the ground always appears to be closer than it actually is; maybe others have experienced this?

At Night it's easy to:
 

• Fly into something -- Fly a proper circuit instead of a long straight in.
• Fly into a cloud -- Yep
• Run out of Gas -- You get back to the airport to fly home, but there's nobody to sell you gas, but it looks like there's enough to get home:uhoh:

You do need to be comfortable on instruments. A black night with little habitation and perhaps a high overcast to block out the stars is instrument flying.

Use the AH on takeoff to ensure you don't mistakenly lower the nose and hit something.

So while it's legally VFR, it can end up being flown virtually as an IFR flight. In the US, you can be talking with Center under flight following which is handy if you suddenly have an engine problem:ok:

Adjusting a Cessna rheostat on low altitude might leave you without any lighting:uhoh:

Be able to hit the dome switch immediately by feel -- I've had to do it.

Some radios do not have an illuminated on/off switch, but the frequency will be visible and you might find yourself wondering why you don't hear anybody:ouch:

Yes get a dual white / red headlight. Wilkinsons do one for £10 which works well. I once took off from Santa Maria at night in a Seneca, just after take of and just as I entered the low cloud / fog the instrument lights went off and I couldn't see the AI very well which was....interesting! Still the landing lights reflecting off the cloud just gave enough light, but now I always have a backup!

Actually I have never done a NQ, but have flown a lot at night under the FAA and to be honest I didn't really notice much difference with landings etc...I'd never try to dead reckon at night and would either use radio nav or GPS as primary nav.

Do you have "black hole" strips in the UK? If so request to do a flight there.

I've never noticed that xj8d, but I have often had difficulty judging how far away another aircraft is. On my very first dual night-circuit session, after having just turned off the runway, I thought there was a large aircraft approaching from some distance away. My instructor pointed out that it was another Chipmunk on short final. :\

Interesting...at one point there were two other a/c in the circuit and i found it OK judging separation. However, I do keep getting the feeling I'm much closer to the ground than I actually am!

Not sure what you mean by a black hole strip, but we did do a circuit with a rwy light failure simulation (aim at the PAPIs and if you're not happy at 100ft go around) was certainly fun!

Cheers,

If you have a PAPI you are cheating! Try grass field, middle of nowhere, edge lights, red and green at the ends, nowt else. Then turn them off and don't use the landing light. That's a black hole

After the student was doing OK in the circuit I got the tower to turn of the PAPI system for the remaining circuits. If you have only done night landings on a runway with an appraoch aid you are IMO not equiped to safely land on
a runway with only simple edge lights. I also always finished off the circuit portion with no landing light landings. Since most light aircraft have only one landing light and it only has a 25 hr life you are virtually guaranteed to eventually have to make a for real landing with no landing light.

Other things to think about (for low time PPL's)

- It is very easy to hit things while taxing. If the ramp is crowded, think about how you are going to get out before you get in the airplane and always stay on the taxiway yellow line.

- Think about others when using your lights on the ground. My pet peeves are pilots who turn the white stobes on, when on the ground, and who do not turn the landing light off when they are pointing at another aircraft

- Bad weather is an absolute killer at night. I tell my students that there should be no cloud at all below an altitude which is 2000 ft higher than any part of your flight, and you should not fly at night in any kind of precipitation under any circumstances. Watch the temp/dew point spread, those wonderfully clear nights can be the most dangerous. A 3 degree spread at the time of the flight is the least you want to see.

- Be realsitic about the extra risks you are exposing yourself to. The last statistics I saw from the US was for any given flight that a non instrument rated PPL flying a single engine aircraft undertook, the chance of a fatal accident was 25 times higher than for the same flight conducted during the day. Personally as a ATPL 6000 hr pilot with a current Canadian Class 1 flight instructor rating (the highest FI qualification) I will no longer fly single engine aircraft at night outside of the circuit

One thing i always consider is an engine failure. It's impossible to tell if it's a field , forrest or even a lake. I always think going for a motorway would be the best option but then my instructor said i would probably loose my licence

Hmm hard to tell which is worse... Death or loosing my licence:}

its dark and the pub is open!

A scotsman's simplistic view of the whole situation.

Engine Failure -- Aim for the Blackest Spot
 

That generally gives you a survivable landing.

The adage is to turn on the landing on short final and if you don't like what you see, turn it off;)

One pilot over a suburban area did just that and put out the lights for the entire area when he ended up in a power substation:eek:

He survived.

Landing on highways always exposes you to wires (unlike power substations which in at least one case functioned as a safety net:} ), it just takes one wire to mess up a landing.

Flying over the Canadian Shield at night with its pothole ponds and vertical rock faces, I find myself inclined to the highway option, given that habitation (i.e. wire crossings) and traffic are sparse. Pick out a car to illuminate the "runway" environment and land just behind it. Then get yourself and a/c off the road before the next car hits you.

mattuk1, a good description of a Black Hole Approach can be found here Sensory illusions in aviation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia,
along with descriptions of other illusions:

Another issue to watch out for on dark nights with few or no visible ground lights is the sudden lack of any apparent horizon reference after flying beyond the runway lights during departure. Instrument skills are required in this circumstance.

Be careful, have fun and remember the engine doesn't know that it is dark. :)

Some of my most memorable flights have been at night.

Departing from Bodo – Norway at night and breaking out on top into sky illuminated with red and green aurora borealis.

Low level departure from Biggin Hill north bound – and over flying central London 2000' – brilliant white lights rather than the drab sodium yellow (this departure unfortunately no longer possible thanks to OBL)

Night departures – watch out for horizon gyro precession whilst accelerating - can give a presentation of a climbing turn! Not good when ascending into the inky black! Easier to get "uncertain of your position" unless you are up to speed with IFR navigation. You need the right aircraft - properly equipped.

Most enjoyable rating I ever did and enjoy night flying – it’s huge fun.:ok:

Standard caveat - no strobes whilst taxiing - akin to using fog lights on your car in good vis!

I really enjoyed doing the night rating. It was a strange experience at first being used to only day vfr.

I didn't find the navigating too difficult and the views are outstanding. It took a couple of landings to get used to it, but once I had nailed that the landings without PAPI, landing light, cockpit lighting etc was actually ok.

Actually the 5 solo stop&go's for the qualification were some of the smoothest landings I had ever done.

At one point my instructor took us out towards the coast and I did a turn with the nose pointing out towards the water with no moon etc, it was very strange there was absolutly nothing to go on except the instruments and was my first taste of actual IMC conditions (without hood on etc).

I was constantly thinking of the engine failure scenario, but as they say the engine does not know it is dark. One can only hit best glide, aim for a dark spot and land into wind and hope for the best!

Your instructor should resign. He should not be spreading this false piece of pilot forum folklore which has never had any truth in it.

The issue with road landings is that they often have lamp-posts alongside, which are not all that much further apart then your wingtips :)

manange to complete my night flying course this evening at Sherburn..

:ok:

Me and a mate were chatting the other day as to if the safest place to put an aircraft down at night would be on a major motorway. Anyone have any idea if people have done it and been successful or not? Would one be in a lot more trouble than attempting to land in a field as you are putting road users at risk??

Ahh but wouldn't hitting your wing on a lamp post, 20 ft off the ground be surely better than hitting a tree head on?

i would have thought so. Or maybe a large lit football field or something..

How does this compare?

HANDSFREE ENERGIZER HEAD TORCH LEDx6 WITH NIGHT VISION on eBay (end time 04-Mar-10 19:27:17 GMT)

I bought Petzl TacTikka Plus and it works fine, but I'm not convinced it's worth the money I paid. It's just a bit of plastic without the quality I would expect at that price.

I'm sure you get better value for money if you go for the £13 Energizer

Do you mean you couldn't fix your position to within 1 meter ;)

There is very little convection at night, so conditions generally tend to improve compared to day time conditions (pending fronts and wot not!). But one aspect is the wind. The boundary layer is much thinner and hence lower meaning that at typical GA levels of 2 to 3,000' one can be faced with the sort of wind one would normally expect much higher with very little wind just at around 1,000 - 1,500'.

The other problem is shallow fog which isn't easily detectable from aloft meaning that visibility can be suddenly and significantly reduce at very low levels like landing.