Logging Night Time

RWH1986

Some Guy
I am working on my commercial right now and have a question about logging night time. I have always flown when it is obviously night out but lately it's has been 50/50. To log the flight properly do you log night time from start to twilight and the rest of the flight as day? :confused:

ex. 2 hour flight logging .5 hour as night.
 
Are you saying that your flights are starting in the daytime and ending at night? Am I right?
 
I'm also confused.

"start to twilight and the rest of the flight as day"

Makes it sound like you get up crazy early in the morning, fly some while it is dark out, and then fly in the day.

...just to confuse everyone more. ;)
 
You can and need to split a flight appropriately in your log book.
example:
1.5 hour flight
if .5 was day, log it as such.
and then the rest (1.0) would be in the night column.
 
Pretty much I just do one hour after sunset and one hour before sunrise. Whatever is before or after is day.
 
Pretty much I just do one hour after sunset and one hour before sunrise. Whatever is before or after is day.

That definition is only for logging landings for night currency. If you are only logging night time, log from the end of evening civil twilight to the beginning of morning civil twilight. Sunset and sunrise have nothing to do with it.
 
That definition is only for logging landings for night currency. If you are only logging night time, log from the end of evening civil twilight to the beginning of morning civil twilight. Sunset and sunrise have nothing to do with it.

Yep, that's how I do it. I've had lots of flights recently that started in the late afternoon and went into nighttime.

The 3 full-stop 61.57 landings in the last 90 days for carrying passengers after 1 hour past sunset need to be accomplished after 1 hour past sunset. 61.51 doesn't specify about logging night time, but night is clearly defined as the end of evening civil twilight to the beginning of morning civil twilight. So I interpret that to mean that that's when you can start logging pure night time (NOT the currency landings).

It's a frustrating inconsistency, and if someone can show that I'm wrong, that'd be great, because I don't like my current understanding of the rules.
 
Yep, that's how I do it. I've had lots of flights recently that started in the late afternoon and went into nighttime.

The 3 full-stop 61.57 landings in the last 90 days for carrying passengers after 1 hour past sunset need to be accomplished after 1 hour past sunset. 61.51 doesn't specify about logging night time, but night is clearly defined as the end of evening civil twilight to the beginning of morning civil twilight. So I interpret that to mean that that's when you can start logging pure night time (NOT the currency landings).

It's a frustrating inconsistency, and if someone can show that I'm wrong, that'd be great, because I don't like my current understanding of the rules.

That is exactly right!
 
The end of civil twilight....I think it's when the sun is 6 degrees below the horizon if I remember correctly. I start logging night 30 min after sunset. For passengers and currency it's 1 hour like said above.
 
Honestly I have never really paid attention to when "civil twilight" was other than for currency.

If I need a flashlight to see, its night in the logbook.
 
I'm also confused.

"start to twilight and the rest of the flight as day"

Makes it sound like you get up crazy early in the morning, fly some while it is dark out, and then fly in the day.

...just to confuse everyone more. ;)

That's exactly what I mean. Some of my flights start out here in AZ around 6 am and civil twilight isnt until almost 7. I just needed clarification if it is acceptable to split between night and day!:nana2:
 
All of my traffic watch flights for the past few months have been like that.
TO at 4pm LAND at 7pm

I get to see the coolest sunsets.

Also there is a specific time that most of the Vegas lights come on at once.
it's really cool.

Plus, getting your plane lit up by the Luxor light is pretty nifty........
 
But civil twilight has nothing to do with currency. ;)
wow, for some reason civil twilight was in my brain in regard to that requirement, but there it is plain as can be, sunset and sunrise.

I wonder how many times I have read that and not noticed.
 
The FAA of course had to choose three different definitions for night:

Logging Night Time: "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." - FAR 1.1

To get/stay night current to carry passengers: "period beginning one hour after sunset and ending one hour before sunrise." FAR 61.57(b)

When to turn on your position lights, "the period from sunset to sunrise." FAR 91.209.
 
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