I routinely fly my gliders at night for airshows. Learning to fly
aerobatics at night was one of the scariest things I've ever done.
However, once I established the proper parameters and visual cues (and
where not to look to avoid being blinded by the pyrotechnics), it is a
blast! The occasional night wave flight is pretty awesome too.
Frankly, I prefer hard dark to twilight. Once my eyes adjust to hard
dark, it's better to not be exposed to any light. The western horizon
can be very bright long after sunset (especially in northern
latitudes). Landing into a setting sun can be near impossible.
Landing a glider at night is harder than an airplane (even a back-
seat, no-visibility biplane like the Skybolt) because of the extremely
low visual position. At touchdown, your eyes are scarcely higher than
the runway light posts. All depth perception is lost at the final
moments. Also much worse with a tinted canopy. Without my landing
light, I can't see the runway at all.

There are different definitions for various stages of 'non-day'
flight. The requirement for position and anti-collision lights is
different than that for night currency. Also, the requirement in
91.205 for an 'adequate source of electrical energy' can be a problem
in an unpowered glider. (91.205 technically only applies to
airplanes, but your operating limitations probably reference it, so it
applies.) A standard set of position lights draws about 12 amps, a
strobe system draws about 6 amps. With my 8 ah battery, the strobe
starts going haywire in about 30 minutes. The lights are noticeably
dim by then. And that is starting with a fresh 'light-dedicated'
battery. The new LED lights draw less current, but are really
expensive. My ops limits only allow 30 minutes after sunset, and
require replacing the battery every three years.

Night VFR has been allowed on experimental aircraft for many years.
Nothing new as far as I know...

Bob

On Apr 13, 10:57*am, 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