Late night flying

ZeroPapaGolf

ZeroPapaGolf

Well-Known Member
Guess where I'm at? Hmm? Ok I'll tell you: I'm in Gulf Shores, AL!
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We (me and my dad) left out of 42A at 11:00pm last night, and arrived here at 1am this morning. I had never been flying at that time of night before, it was pretty neat. For the first hour or so it was the inbound FedEx rush into MEM, at one point we could see 4 planes lined up to cross Gilmore. Then after that it got quiet as can be on the radio. That was nice, because we were able to go immediately to 7000 when we started running out of our tailwind. And we only had to wake up one controller!
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We also saw a really cool halo around the moon. Usually they're pretty small around the moon, but this one was huge, a gigantic glowing ring around the moon.

Anyway, it was fun, but I'm not sure I would want to do that on a regular basis!

Side note: this house down here is in the perfect spot. In the last 15 minutes, 2 Bell 206s, a T-38, two DA20s, and a couple 172s have gone over. And you can expect the Blues to come over once or twice.
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Awesome!

I like flying late at night ... not much traffic, in the way both in the skies and on the radios.

My long solo x-country was to DE to see my parents for dinner, and didn't leave until about 11:00pm and got back around 12:30am in Martinsburg, WV.
 
Night flying IS really fun, but I always find it hard to see the ground. Unlit terrain just looks like a giant black whole. Scary.
 
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Unlit terrain just looks like a giant black whole

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ABSOLUTELY!

Coming back from Manassas, VA to Martinsburg, WV after having dinner with the in-laws I was flying out to the Cassanova VOR and then proceeding north because a more direct route would bring Dulles traffic into play as well as staying in the ADIZ longer than necessary (not that much of a concern)

The route crosses a ridge line with mountains in the vicinity to the WSW. I had flight following and asked for higher just to be on the safe side ... the controller advised me that I was definately higher than any terrain, but "I understand, it can get pretty dark out there."

I assumed I maintained an altitude that would definately have cleared any terrain as that's part of the flight planning ... but when it's dark, and you know there are mountains around but you can't see them ... a little insurance altitude for some peace of mind in the cockpit isn't a bad idea
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One of my favorite things to do in life is to go late-night flying. Whenever me and other guys take trips, I tend to volunteer the flight back (which is usually at night). I just always make sure to file IFR. I don't think I have any business up there at night VFR.

The air is smooth, it's often clear, you can see stars above and the soft, peaceful orange-lit towns and cities below. It's a great feeling, it feels like you've got the sky to yourself. And despite all the prop noise, it's still the quietest feeling.



Aero
 
Here's a question for those who mentioned how dark it is outside.. Do you turn your panel lights way up or way down?

Since I began driving, I've always turned the dash lights down to the point where I can read the with a quick glance (turns out I'm in the minority). I naturally translated that into flying.

When teaching, I get into the cockpit with a student or pilot who translated the bright dash to the cockpit and definitely feels more comfortable that way, but I can't see squat outside., especially on landing.
 
I start out on full bright, but after my night vision gets better I usually dim them down. I was on a night trip that lasted about 3 hours, and by the time we arrived at our destination, I had my panel lights down as low as they go and could see everything fine.
 
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Anyway, it was fun, but I'm not sure I would want to do that on a regular basis!

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After about 350 hours of blazing around between 2200 and 0500, I've found that it's the best time to fly!!
 
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