Night Flying

Dave S wrote:

I've got about 100 or so night VFR hours.. most of them are XC.. 450 TT.

28 night, 65 hours XC... 176 TT...

28 night, 65 hours XC... 176 TT...

That's a pretty impressive percentage of night flying.

I've got around 970 TT, maybe 425 XC -- but only around 20 hours at night.

All those years of getting up at 4:30 AM just meant not staying up past
sunset, I guess!

;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:

28 night, 65 hours XC... 176 TT...

That's a pretty impressive percentage of night flying.

I've got around 970 TT, maybe 425 XC -- but only around 20 hours at night.

All those years of getting up at 4:30 AM just meant not staying up past
sunset, I guess!

See quite a few sunrises, lots more sunsets...

Great thing about night flying if you don't like what you see, turn of
the light...

One thing about extended flights, the headband light starts to hurt
before the headset does...

For those of us in the southwest USA, evening/night flying is
often the best flying. (Assuming the Tstorms are gone). Temps are
not 90s,100s,110s, air is calm, less traffic, easier to see what
traffic is around, ATC is less busy and more agreeable to
"sightseeing" routes, etc.

I'm not IFR rated so when I'm away from the city on a long
flight, I stay in visual contact with major highways as a safety
item.

Fred Choate wrote:

But, for performance issues, and other things, I wonder how many
pilots have considered flying a cross county at night vs. during the day.

I've never opted for night versus day for performance reasons, but I've made
quite a few cross-country night flights in light singles for other reasons.

George Patterson
Why do men's hearts beat faster, knees get weak, throats become dry,
and they think irrationally when a woman wears leather clothing?
Because she smells like a new truck.

Fred Choate wrote:

Hey Folks....

I go outside after dark a lot, usually to enjoy the outside air. Last night
I realized that I don't generally see a lot of GA at night in my area. I am
curious as to the feeling of this group on flying at night. I am talking
about VFR.

For discussion purposes, I know that when I take a trip in my car, I enjoy
driving at night. It is cooler, there is less traffic, the car seems to
perform better...etc. I would say that many of those same things would
apply to flying at night. Now, I realize the safety issues, and that isn't
the point of my question (for all of you that are going to say DON"T FLY AT
NIGHT). But, for performance issues, and other things, I wonder how many
pilots have considered flying a cross county at night vs. during the day.

Fred



I've flown several at night, both VFR and IFR. I love it. The only
downside is the occasional thought of engine failure. I tend to fly
higher at night and try to keep track of where the nearest airport is.


Matt

But, for performance issues, and other things, I wonder how many
pilots have considered flying a cross county at night vs. during the day.

I have not flown a night cross country in nine years. (My last one was
a complete success, but probably the dumbest thing I've ever done in an
airplane.)

Mary and I decided, for all of the reasons already discussed in this
thread, to not fly at night unless absolutely necessary until our kids
are grown. As a result, we have only flown a tiny hand-full of hours
at night in recent years.

Night flying is pretty, and -- if the weather cooperates -- smooth as
glass. However, if your engine craps (which single engine planes are
occasionally prone to do) you're toast.

Given all the other risks we take in our lives, we figured that this
was a pretty easy one to eliminate.

Once the kids are on their own, however, I won't have any compunctions
about flying in the dark again.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:
Night flying is pretty, and -- if the weather cooperates -- smooth as
glass. However, if your engine craps (which single engine planes are
occasionally prone to do) you're toast.


Not necessarily. I can think of several night crashes in rural eastern North
Carolina where the pilot walked away. Unlike my part of the state, there are a
lot of huge open fields in that area. Combined with some moonlight, I'd say you
have a pretty good shot at making it. In my part of the state, you're not
likely to be so lucky.

That being said, I thought of one cross country trip I used to make frequently,
and always at night by design: between Charlotte, NC and Lake City, FL.
Although getting a cab in Lake City after hours was always a PITA, arriving late
meant you got to arrive. If I waited until the early AM, ground fog ruined any
chance at all of getting in. And it's foggy there A LOT!




--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

VE

"Fred Choate" wrote in message
...
Hey Folks....

I go outside after dark a lot, usually to enjoy the outside air. Last
night I realized that I don't generally see a lot of GA at night in my
area. I am curious as to the feeling of this group on flying at night. I
am talking about VFR.
-- -------------------------------reply---------------------------------------------------

Hello Fred and Everyone,

Greetings from hurricane central! It's pretty peaceful right now (1611Z) as
the wind has not increased considerably. A Cat 4 hurricane is a dangerous
thing but preparedness has been the key.

I'm a volunteer with the Civil Air Patrol and often get calls at night to
fly a mission that may take me on a cross-country over several hundred
miles. The preparation time for these flights can range from a call in the
middle of the night to a mission base with multiple sorties. Last night was
one of those middle of the night calls. Departing from Gulf Shores at 2:30
AM, I flew to Montgomery to pick-up equipment and personnel and provide
evacuation flow reports to the Emergency Operations Center to be used in
briefing the officials. It's a tad over an hour up there. Now, if you
don't know how much a tad is, you probably can't measure a smidge either.
Forget about a cat-angle. The sight of cars bumper to bumper for as far as
you can see in either direction on Interstate 10 was impressive, and this
was at 3 AM!

It is important to make a distinction between current and proficient. Get a
friend who is proficient in night flying and make a trip, hundred dollar
hamburger and all that. The controllers are usually not as busy and will
often chat....I rub it in to them that I'm up here and they're not. A call
to Flight Watch is always good for a friendly voice in the night.

See you on the net after the storm passes.


Stephen F. Pearce
Foley, Alabama

There are nights where you see as well as in the day, and even better, because
you acn see cities and airports from many many miles away, and there are nights
where the sky is black as ink, and even though you still see the beacons, VFR is
less comfortable. It is made even less comfortable when you know that fog and
clouds can move in under you, without your knowing it until an advanced stage.
Night VFR pilots are always on the lookout for those halos around ground lights
- a sure sign that visibility is diminishing.

In night VFR, my biggest worry would be unseen obstacles when manoeuvering near
an unfamiliar airfield - particularly power lines, because they're
completely invisible under these conditions. If you're VFR into an airfield you
know well, there must be few pleasures in this world greater than night VFR, on
a calm, clear night.

G Faris