Night Visual Approaches

[BeechBoy]

Does anyone have any tips for mastering the night visual approach? Due to wind, sometimes the best option for us is to land on a runway that doesn't have an instrument approach. In other words you have the beacon and the runway lights (frequently there are no REIL or RAIL lights, just the runway edge lights).

My difficulty arrises after the beacon is spotted and cleared for the visual. I know where the airport is but am faced with maneuvering for a runway that is frequently invisible. I've never been in a dangerous situation but it's uncomfortable maneuvering the airplane based on where you THINK the runway is.

Some of the things I do to make the maneuver as safe as possible:
1. Reviewing approach plate to determine where (and how high) the highest obstacles are located.
2. Not descending below MSA until positively clear of all obstructions (see #1 above) - then descend to TPA (1500 AGL).
3. Don't descend below TPA until within circling boundaries.
4. Don't descend below circling minimums until runway is in sight.
5. Fly no faster than 140 KIAS to reduce turn radius.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. (C'mon, Doug. Surely YOU remember flying in the frozen north. What did you do? )

 

[dc3flyer]

I take it the runways in question also do not have a PAPI or VASI?

It never hurts to do a pattern, ie downwind - base - final. Another thought is using your distance to the field vs. altitude to determine a good glide path. If you know the area fairly well then you will know of obstacles, if not hopefully you won't spot any with your landing light!!!

This is a hard one to explain with words....

 

[BeechBoy]

They usually have a PAPI/VASI but the VASI was inop on the last one I did (it wasn't NOTAM'd out of service - I was the one who discovered it was inop). I'm OK once I have the threshold in sight. REIL lights are the best but many airports we service don't have them.

 

[woodreau]

I am going to assume that you're new (and flying a 1900) - after you fly the route a few times, you quickly figure out what you need to look for - that airport beacon just gets easier to find and soon you'll be able to spot it from 85-100 miles out on a clear night.

One thing you might want to do is find a DME on the field (doesn't have to be to the runway you're landing on) ANY DME on the field will work (vor / ils) and then you'll be able to figure your time to the field/distance from the field, etc. that will help in your descent planning

At the non-towered/class G/E fields that we fly into, I typically won't start my descent to traffic until I need a 2,000ft/min descent to the traffic pattern.

Although it takes a little bit more time, a traffic pattern really does help in getting set up towards the runway that's not served by an instrument approach if you're not familiar with the area/obstructions.