(Robert M. Gary) wrote
With the amount of training we give students the should be able to
safely return home even if it gets dark. However, if they plan on
flying a lot of cross countries to unfamiliar airports they may want
to consider getting more than the minimum.

Sorry, don't buy it. The IFR training we give is emergency training
for making it home, the night training we give includes planning and
executing an actual night XC flight. I see no reason why it would not
be enough to attain basic night proficiency. It was enough for me,
and for most students I know. Yes, there are occasional exceptions.

There are also those who need more than the three hours mandated to
attain emergency instrument proficiency (and some who need much less).
Tell me - if there was no instrument flying on the checkride would
you sign off those who had the three hours but had not achieved
proficiency? Or suppose you knew the student was cheating
(intentionally or otherwise) because he could not maintain control on
instruments on an overcast night, but did fine in the daytime - would
you sign him off? Or would you insist he either get it right at night
(when he can't cheat) or stop at the recreational?

Most of my students are working
professionals so the time difference between night training and
checkride is often 6 months. Going 6 months without flying at night is
hard for any rated pilot.

Sure it is - a low time pilot anyway. I don't think this should be a
factor for two reasons.

First, night training, like instrument training, should be done
towards the end of the training cycle, not months before the
checkride. This is advanced training, and the student will get little
out of it if he is not already day-VFR proficient. In fact, I can
easily see why a student might need more than three hours of night
training for night proficiency if those hours come months before he is
ready for the checkride.

Second, once the night training is complete, there is no reason why
those working professionals should not fly solo at night - then there
would be no reason for the six month gap.

Now I understand that some FBO's have a problem with this - and
frankly, that's one of the many reasons I prefer not to deal with an
FBO - compromising the quality of training in order to comply with
their rules sticks in my craw. But if you must deal with an FBO that
has such rules, then simply do night/instrument as the last thing.

I would not have a problem soloing a student at night but would
normally require some additional training.

And I have a real problem with this.

Either the student is competent for night flight without an
instructor, or he isn't. If he isn't, how can you endorse him for the
checkride? If he is, why not give him a night solo endorsement?

Michael