Night lights, night flights, OLC and records

Very interesting. Thanks for posting.

In US night, as defined for pilot certification, flying currency, and
flight logging, does not start at sunset. It starts one hour after
sunset. Flying a day VFR certificated glider 10 seconds after sunset
is not night flying and requires no special pilot qualification. It
does however require the glider to have approved night lighting. I
assume then that a day vfr certificated glider with approved lighting
may legally fly 59 minutes after sunset.

Do any US registered motor gliders have approved lighting? Have their
owners operated between sunset and night?

Andy

PS my email is - regards, Woody

Andy wrote:
Very interesting. Thanks for posting.

In US night, as defined for pilot certification, flying currency, and
flight logging, does not start at sunset. It starts one hour after
sunset. Flying a day VFR certificated glider 10 seconds after sunset
is not night flying and requires no special pilot qualification. It
does however require the glider to have approved night lighting. I
assume then that a day vfr certificated glider with approved lighting
may legally fly 59 minutes after sunset.

Do any US registered motor gliders have approved lighting? Have their
owners operated between sunset and night?

Andy

Andy wrote:
In US night, as defined for pilot certification, flying currency, and
flight logging, does not start at sunset. It starts one hour after
sunset. Flying a day VFR certificated glider 10 seconds after sunset
is not night flying and requires no special pilot qualification. It
does however require the glider to have approved night lighting. I
assume then that a day vfr certificated glider with approved lighting
may legally fly 59 minutes after sunset.

According to FARs, a pilot with a normal pilot certificate (it's
possible to get a "no night flying" restriction) has no further
requirements for flying at night while SOLO. There is a currency
requirement for carrying passengers:

61.57.b) Night takeoff and landing experience. (1) Except as provided
in paragraph (e) of this section, no person may act as pilot in command
of an aircraft carrying passengers during the period beginning 1 hour
after sunset and ending 1 hour before sunrise, unless within the
preceding 90 days that person has made at least three takeoffs and
three landings to a full stop during the period beginning 1 hour after
sunset and ending 1 hour before sunrise, and-
(i) That person acted as sole manipulator of the flight controls;

The odd thing is that 1.1 defines night:
Night means the time between the end of evening civil twilight and the
beginning of morning civil twilight, as published in the American Air
Almanac, converted to local time.

So I guess they want the experience to be in "total darkness"...

And finally, the FAI Sporting Code:
4.5.4 Night flight
A flight that continues beyond the hours of legal daylight in the
country concerned shall not be validated, except where the glider and
pilot comply with the laws of that country for night flight.

So in the USA, this would seem to be Sunset, unless the glider has
legal position lights.

Do any US registered motor gliders have approved lighting? Have their
owners operated between sunset and night?

Stemme and Katana immediately come to mind.

-Tom

"Andy" wrote in message
oups.com...
Do any US registered motor gliders have approved lighting? Have their
owners operated between sunset and night?

Andy


Andy,

I wrote the following several years ago after an intentional night flight in
my previous owned Stemme (I have an ASH26E now, with no lights). I think it
interesting that some are saying it's crazy to fly gliders at night. For me
it was a unique and very memorable, worthwhile experience . . .

16,000 feet in wave over Mt. St. Helena some 30 miles north of Napa, CA.
It's 2 hours after sunset, the sky is crystal clear with no moon, so the sky
blends smoothly into the horizon with no tell-tale line. Below, it's almost
as though someone unrolled a huge black velvet carpet with a million
miniature lights. The pinpricks of light are sometimes clustered to form
cities and sometimes drawn thin to make the highways between like
strings of diamonds. There are large dark patches too, uninviting sinister
black holes that are San Francisco bay or uninhabited hills.

I've flown power planes at night many times and have always been struck by
the beauty of it. From a glider it's somehow more, though I'm not eloquent
enough to explain it. The feeling is of being more immersed in one's
surroundings, yet more alone in the silence of the night and soaring flight.

I spent the better part of an hour climbing from about 7K to 16K. Down low
lift was ½ to 2 knots with wind out of 010 at 24 knots. Up at 16K, it was 54
knots
with 3 knots of lift. Temperature outside was 5 Fahrenheit, and although I
thought I dressed warmly enough, 50 degrees inside soon felt chilly with no
sun
to warm through the canopy.

When I ordered my Stemme, the lighting option was an easy decision, though I
thought a bit expensive. Serial 11-018 may have been the first VT to be
purchased with lights. It was delivered with plain winglets that I later
returned to the factory to be modified once the design of the slip-on light
module was finalized. I'm not sure if lighting can be added once the ship
leaves the factory, but it might be possible.

Being a power pilot I enjoyed night flying, but had no clue I'd be soaring
at night. I thought the lighting package would occasionally allow the option
to fly back home from Nevada in the evening without having to worry about
making it back before nightfall. It does that for sure and more . . . but
I'm so glad I have the option of soaring at night!

Please check out Bob Carlton's website www.silentwingsairshows.com to
see that he has not one, but TWO (Jet Silent - Moterglider and Salto -
Pure glider) night certified sailplanes which he does airshows with.
(NIGHT aerobatics in a glider, I might add!) I'm sure he would be happy
to answer questions via E-Mail. I know that he got around the onboard
generator problem somehow, but do not recall the exact details.

-EX