Night flying as a student/private pilot

Matt13C

Matt13C

Well-Known Member
I had my first experience flying at night, tonight. I did a cross country from KTTN-KLNS-KABE-KTTN. I had my first experience with class C, I like talking to all the different controllers. Overall I had a great time:nana2:, got to fly over some fireworks and the air was so smooth, a total chance from flying during the day today.

I was wondering though, what people think about flying at night without an Instrument rating. I can definitely see how trouble could creep in. How many people on here actually flew, or continue to fly, as only a private pilot at night?
 
Glad you liked it. You flew a big triangle around where I'm sitting right now; there should be a meet and greet sometime 'cause there's a few other people I've seen on here around "these parts."

As far as the night flying stuff goes, as a private pilot you need to be a bit more cognizant of the weather forecasts since you can't see out into the distance like you can in the daytime. A day 50NM XC in VFR is a bit easier to see what you're flying towards.

Additionally, at night you should have a more detailed plan of action in your head as to where you are going to go if the engine fails, or the radio breaks, etc. You may not feel quite so comfortable flying over desolate areas that look okay in the daytime. If it's a really dark area and you had to do a forced landing, you're not going to be able to see anything until you are low unless the moon is bright.

Those are the basics that I can think of.

All of the students I taught instrument ratings to did less than 20% of that rating in daylight.
 
Matt13C said:
I was wondering though, what people think about flying at night without an Instrument rating. I can definitely see how trouble could creep in. How many people on here actually flew, or continue to fly, as only a private pilot at night?
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I flew a lot at night before getting an instrument rating, and I don't see it as any big deal.

Just like any type of flying, there are certainly risk factors involved, but nothing that makes it unacceptably dangerous, IMHO.
 
If you carry a personal hand held GPS, it might not be a bad idea to store the lat/long of airports/fields/open area's along your route incase of an emergency...The odds of an engine failure during night are no different than during the day, but as the poster above said, it's a whole different ball game, and depending on the moon, you may not be able to pick a spot on the ground to put the airplane down until your well below 1000 feet...Storing emergency waypoints in the gps is usefull because in the event of an emergency, click nearest waypoint and you potentially have a spot for landing if within glide distance...

That said, don't be discouraged about flying at night because of the replys you get on here...Just make sure to plan accordingly.
 
im up for the M&G...

I think that flying at night over long distances, a instrument rating sure would be helpful, but as said - there is nothing which should prevent you from night flying as long as you have doen the preparation and are proficient.
 
Flying Night VFR in a single definitely involves a higher level of risk. The question--is it a risk you and your family are willing to take? I don't personally recommend flying at night without an instrument rating, especially away from major cities and/or good moonlight, but it's perfectly legal so knock yourself out if you want to. I really prefer to stay away from night flying in single engine airplanes--sure I've done it and have done it recently, but I try to minimize the amount of time I'm doing it, especially if there's no real purpose for it. It's just fewer options when Mr. Murphy decides to apply his law. Flying safely is all about risk management--so you just have to decide what risks are worth taking and what risks aren't.
 
I wish that more people would fly at night before getting their instrument rating. Little more risk? Well, yeah. So is flying over a city or oil refinery.
 
mtsu_av8er said:
I wish that more people would fly at night before getting their instrument rating. Little more risk? Well, yeah. So is flying over a city or oil refinery.
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:yeahthat:

It's fun. I've done. A lot of it.

I'm still here.

Come on, folks. Yes, there is risk involved when you fly at night. But there's risk involved whenever you go up.

Plan for it, address it as best you can, and then go fly.
 
I actually did some of my normal training for the PPL at night that wasnt the standard night flight requirement. I loved it. I havent started my instrument yet but I would like to think I have a slight head start.
 
Don't always look at the moon as a good thing, however. I went on a long night flight back in August and the moon was more of a hindrance. Luckily it was behind me, but had I been going in that direction, some of the haze would've been illuminated to the point where making out landmarks would've been difficult. It wasn't that you couldn't have seen through the haze, it was just that the reflection of the light in the haze would've messed up your night vision.

In any case, it's always good to have some instrument-based backups for your route, should you get over some land that doesn't have many landmarks or city lights, or even if you get into some trouble.

I love night flying.
 
A lot of people have posted that they don't recommend flying at night unless they get an instrument rating. How is an instrument rating going to be an advantage when your engine goes out in a single engine at night? To me the risk of flying at night as a private pilot and an instrument pilot are the same (in vfr weather). If your comfortable with it, fly at night. It will be some of the most memorable time you have.
 
Like I said, last night was my first time up at night, so I am not what I would call experienced. My take was this. The flying part was great, aesthetically it was amazing. I actually felt a little safer in the air, all the lights on planes made them easy to spot. Not sure what effect haze or overcast will have on this at night but I most likely won't go up unless it is clear and I will always request flight following.

Where I though trouble could creep in is with engine failure. I flew part if the route I flew at night earlier in the day. I know parts of the big black spots on the ground were wide open fields and others were dense trees. As we got closer to the ground coming in to land, say 2000 feet I could start to make out open fields but that might not be enough time.

I have read stories and talked to pilots who say it is possible for lights in the distance to start to resemble an artificial horizon. If you are not properly trained you may think your instruments are wrong and your body is right. I did not have that last night, but this was a relatively short flight at low altitudes, 4,500 and 5,500 depending on heading.
 
Hookedonflying said:
A lot of people have posted that they don't recommend flying at night unless they get an instrument rating. How is an instrument rating going to be an advantage when your engine goes out in a single engine at night? To me the risk of flying at night as a private pilot and an instrument pilot are the same (in vfr weather). If your comfortable with it, fly at night. It will be some of the most memorable time you have.
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It's not so much the engine failures that are a problem. I think it's more that there are no good, easily-visible landmarks to go by at night, especially in certain areas, which means sometimes one needs to rely on another source. I think the point was more that it is slightly more safe with the instrument rating, given the knowledge and ability to accurately fly on instruments alone. Engine failures are just as likely to occur at any time of day, with any rating.
 
I prefer night flying, personally, and I'm almost a private.

I think some of it depends on where you fly. Over the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, on a clear night it's stunningly beautiful, and there is so much light it's almost like daytime. Plus, if you're going XC, the major routes by the highways are pretty well-lit.

Now, I'm not sure I'd want to try it over a very rural area or over the rockies or something without some extra training, but for me, night flying just seems to make it a little more magical.
 
I've said it before I'll say it again. Non-instrument rated/proficient pilots have no business flying at night.
 
Bah. I flew at night all the time while I was building time for my instrument and commercial ratings. It just takes a closer look at the weather and some extra effort in flight planning to bring the risk back down to a sane level. It is far and away my favorite time to fly. It's one of the real joys I look forward to.
 
both sides can be argued equally, but like many have said it just depends on how you view the risks. personally, about 75% of my flying after i got my PPL was flown over mountains from the valley to the west coast at night, and still is. Its not that you ignore the risks, but if you weigh the risk of what is "possible" to happen on every single flight you go on nobody would fly. just my opinion, but flying at night is an important skill you have to learn sometime, and finally doing it at FL350 doesnt give you the same skills you would learn doing it in a single at 6000ft.
 
P&H said:
I've said it before I'll say it again. Non-instrument rated/proficient pilots have no business flying at night.
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Baloney.

The FAA says I can fly at night without an instrument rating, so I'm going to do it.

I've got about 300 hours, and about 100 of those are at night. If it's a VFR night, there is absolutely no reason whatsoever that I can't be up there.

I can see and avoid just fine, thank you very much.
 
I love flying at night. I think night flying is fine in the area that you're familiar with, once when you get over the unfamiliar territory and weather gets worse it could be challenging for fresh new pilots. In this area around the lake Ponchartrain is very easy to lose reference to the horizon and it gets foggy at nights and mornings sometimes. It's a good idea to have instrument rating. Even as a commercial pilot, according to the regulations, one is not allowed to fly passengers at night past 50 Nm without instrument rating. I tend to think that some stipulations are there for a reason. Better safe than sorry...or dead.
 
I've been a fan of night flying since my private pilot training days. The air is usually more stable, traffic tends to be lighter, and I tend to have an easier time spotting other aircraft.

Flying in the greater Balt-Wash metro area with other large cities slightly west, lighting doesn't tend to be a problem.
 
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