Night VFR Soaring (USA)

Mike the Strike wrote:
On Apr 13, 8:59 pm, 5Z wrote:
On Apr 13, 7:47 pm, brian whatcott wrote:

If you need to get night current to carry passengers, follow the
definition of night as described in FAR 61.57(b), which is the "period
beginning one hour after sunset and ending one hour before sunrise."
Yes, there really are several different definitions in the FARs...
Nope - one definition, several requirements.

As soon as the sun sets, it becomes hard to see aircraft (and oncoming
cars) if they're not illuminated, yet it's still pretty much daytime
as far as seeing the ground and large obstructions.

It's not until it's quite dark that landings become a bit more
interesting than during the day, so the FAA wants to be sure you're
current at landing IN THE DARK before carrying passengers.

-Tom

As the OP, perhaps I should clarify a few things.

I understand that it was ALWAYS legal to fly a VFR certified aircraft,
including gliders, after sunset (but in twilight) provided that you
have the required navigation lights. This is after sunset, but before
the onset of "legal" night! Night VFR only commences after the end of
civil twilight and is reportedly no longer restricted under
Experimental certification in the USA.

It would certainly be useful to finish our final glides in twilight,
but I believe that we all can (and always could) do this legally
anyway. At our home field, we find landing into the setting sun
greatly reduces visibility and waiting five minutes till it has set
improves safety. There is no question, though, once the sun has set,
you need navigation lights.

AFAIK, no part of any FAI badge flight can be flown at night. I have
not seen any ruling on OLC.

So any rules folk out there - can we or can't we soar at night for
records, badge flights or OLC?

Mike

Concerning OLC, night flights seem to be valid as long as they are
carried out legally (i.e. you have a valid night VFR rating and your
glider is equipped with the required lights).

I checked with the german rules, as the OLC originally started he

Section 12 start with this sentence:
"Die Veranstalter des OLC gehen davon aus, dass die Teilnehmer bei ihren
Wertungsflügen nicht gegen luftrechtliche und andere Vorschriften
verstoßen."

In the english rules this sentence is translated to:
"The OLC organizers have to assume that the participants in the contest
will not violate restricted airspace during their flights."

A more precise translation would be:
"The OLC organizers have to assume that the participants in the contest
will not violate any air law and other regulations during their flights."

FAI ruling is different, but OLC just says that if you are flying
legally, the flight will count.
--
Peter Scholz
ASW 24 JE