I once made a landing on our unlighted grassy field at 5 minutes
before local sunset. It's not an experience I ever want to have again!
Judging height for the flare was difficult - sort of like skiing a
mogul field at night.

-John

I'd think that you'd have difficulty judging height above the runway,
unless you had a landing light.

On Apr 13, 12:57 pm, Mike the Strike wrote:
In issuing a new airworthiness certificate, my local FAA FSDO examiner
told me yesterday that the restrictions on experimental aircraft
(which includes a lot of sailplanes) to fly only in day VFR had been
removed, and night VFR was now permitted in aircraft equipped with the
necessary navigation lights.

In Arizona, our short summer days sometimes have us on final glide as
the sun is setting and we do occasionally land around (or even just
after) sunset. I know most contest rules cut off soaring at or before
sunset, but I wonder if there any circumstances where this would be
useful?

Night OLC, anyone?

Mike