Night VFR following highways

In rec.aviation.piloting wrote:

About the only reason to follow highways (other than it just happens to
go where you want to go) at night is you are guaranteed that there is
nothing directly above the highway (such as a mountain peak), which is
handy for going through things like passes on dark nights and areas
dotted with high peaks.

"Guaranteed" is a bit of a strong word. Don't forget about tunnels and
power lines.

--
Frank Stutzman
Bonanza N494B "Hula Girl"
Boise, ID

gatt wrote:
Sure. For example, Interstate 5 runs from Canada to Mexico, and the stretch
through most of Oregon looks like somebody drew a straight line with a
pencil across the landscape. If you were flying from Portland (possible
Seattle) to Eugene, Medford, Sacramento, etc, day or note you could follow
the freeway the entire route.

I followed a highway up to Alaska. In daylight,however.

In rec.aviation.piloting Frank Stutzman wrote:
In rec.aviation.piloting wrote:

About the only reason to follow highways (other than it just happens to
go where you want to go) at night is you are guaranteed that there is
nothing directly above the highway (such as a mountain peak), which is
handy for going through things like passes on dark nights and areas
dotted with high peaks.

"Guaranteed" is a bit of a strong word. Don't forget about tunnels and
power lines.

Anyone flying at night low enough to worry about power lines in
route is an idiot.

Tunnels I'd have to think about; I can't think of any that aren't on
a twisty mountain road in terrain I would never fly in at night
anyway.

--
Jim Pennino

Remove .spam.sux to reply.

On Feb 1, 1:28*pm, Mxsmanic wrote:
Is it a bad idea to fly VFR at night and navigate by following highways? *At
night outside large cities, there doesn't seem to be much else that's visible.
It seems to me that if you can clearly see the highway, it can guide you and
you can get a good idea of where you are with respect to terrain, so it should
work. *Are there hidden dangers in this? *Do night VFR pilots ever/often
navigate by following highways? *What other forms of visual navigation are
usable at night?

I would suggest doing a flight then at night so you could find out.
Perhaps along some mountain passes with 3.1 statue mile visibility,
with appropriate distance from clouds. Please lets us know after you
done this flight.

wrote:
Now having said that, I've flown a lot at night, single engine, vfr,
and I'm still alive after doing it regularly for ten years. In real
airplanes too. I think the Bogeyman might be scared of me. But I do
try to stay in gliding distance of a highway wherever possible. If the
Bogeyman does hop onto my wing at night like a bad Twilight Zone
episode with William Shatner, , I'd rather take my chances on a dead
stick landing with the wires crossing the road and the cars, than the
unseeable terrain in the dark. And yes, I'll leave the landing light
on for the duration.

Unless you don't like what you see toward the end, then just turn it
off...


Why? Impact will extinguish it soon enough.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com

gatt writes:

My father-in-law (ANG helicopter crewman) takes "IFR" to mean "I Follow
Roads " (or rivers)

There is a sobering story right along those lines at

http://www.aopa.org/pilot/never_again/2008/na0801.html

I find it interesting that the author says this VFR flight scared him more
than any of his combat missions in Vietnam.

Sure. For example, Interstate 5 runs from Canada to Mexico, and the stretch
through most of Oregon looks like somebody drew a straight line with a
pencil across the landscape. If you were flying from Portland (possible
Seattle) to Eugene, Medford, Sacramento, etc, day or note you could follow
the freeway the entire route.

You'd still use your VFR navigation aids and checkpoints to make sure know
how far you are enroute, and also to avoid controlled airspace, etc, but
having that road, railroad, river makes for a more-enjoyable flight.

Good. I wanted to make sure I'm not missing some risk or danger to following
highways. From the article above I learned that things like wires and cables
are a real risk if you're very close to the highway, but only a helicopter
would be that low.

writes:

Actually, it simulates little colored pixels which simulate cars in a
simulated world so that people with nothing better to do can simulate
living their lives.

That depends on the sim, the scenery used, and other things. At a minimum,
you get simulated headlights, which is all you need to follow the highway.

writes:

Anyone flying at night low enough to worry about power lines in
route is an idiot.

Here is the "idiot's" story:

http://www.aopa.org/pilot/never_again/2008/na0801.html

paul k. sanchez writes:

I would suggest doing a flight then at night so you could find out.
Perhaps along some mountain passes with 3.1 statue mile visibility,
with appropriate distance from clouds. Please lets us know after you
done this flight.

I've done that, but with radio navigation aids. Even so, it was pretty
harrowing.

On Feb 1, 1:35*pm, wrote:
In rec.aviation.piloting Mxsmanic wrote:

Is it a bad idea to fly VFR at night and navigate by following highways? *At
night outside large cities, there doesn't seem to be much else that's visible.
It seems to me that if you can clearly see the highway, it can guide you and
you can get a good idea of where you are with respect to terrain, so it should
work. *Are there hidden dangers in this? *Do night VFR pilots ever/often
navigate by following highways? *What other forms of visual navigation are
usable at night?

About the only reason to follow highways (other than it just happens to
go where you want to go) at night is you are guaranteed that there is
nothing directly above the highway (such as a mountain peak), which is
handy for going through things like passes on dark nights and areas
dotted with high peaks.

However, the only way one would know visually that they are really
over most highways at night is from the real lights of real traffic.

Since there is no real traffic on your simulated highways with real
headlights, why would you care?

--
Jim Pennino

Remove .spam.sux to reply.

Unless the highway goes through a tunnel....... : (