Flight Training - November/December 2020 - 21

AFTER THE CHECKRIDE

BY DAN NAMOWITZ

HOW
Flying at night can be a
breathtaking experience.
But it does have its
challenges. Help prepare
for your next night ﬂight
with this ASI Safety Quiz:
https://elearning.aopa.
org/client/app.html#/
quizzes/100082?embedded

RESOURCES
aopa.org/trainingand-safety/technique/
night-ﬂying

NIGHT FLYING

A BEAUTIFUL WAY TO SEE YOUR WORLD
FOR MANY PEOPLE, THE FULL IMPACT OF

the switch back to standard time doesn't
register until they step outside at the
end of a workday to ﬁnd the sky dark
and streetlights blazing. For student
pilots, there's an upside to this jarring
change: After-work ﬂight lessons become
convenient opportunities to satisfy the
night-ﬂying requirements for the private
pilot certiﬁcate. Along with separate
rules and equipment requirements, the
night-ﬂying environment-or environments, because night-ﬂying conditions
can vary widely-poses numerous challenges not encountered in daylight.
As a rule, night ﬂying requires a pilot
to depend heavily on the ﬂight instruments for aircraft control. Your ﬂight
instructor, who harps in daytime about
keeping your eyes outside the cockpit,
may soften the tone at night-especially
on dark, moonless nights, when the

horizon is invisible or nearly so. Control
aided by reference to instruments will
be important when approaching airports
surrounded by dark, featureless terrain.
A hazard from the lack of a visible horizon can be cloud layers that mimic it with
disorienting effect. Lights on the ground
can upset a pilot's orientation. "Autokinesis"-an effect that makes stationary lights
appear to be moving-can be induced by
gazing too long at the light source.
A lighted runway in the midst of
dark terrain may seem to slope upward
or downward. This illusion is known as
black hole effect; also be alert for it when
approaching over water.
In daylight, visual approach guidance
systems such as a visual approach slope
indicator (VASI) or precision approach
path indicator (PAPI) help you maintain
a stable approach. At night they also
help you maintain spatial orientation.

Before a night cross-country, review the
characteristics of destination airport
runways-including whether a VASI,
PAPI, or other system is installed. Check
notices to airmen to verify that the system
is operational.
You may know that getting your eyes
adapted to the dark is a gradual process
that can be instantly undone by sudden
exposure to bright light. Easing into night
ﬂight by starting your orientation ﬂight
just at dusk, and progressing into full night
ﬂying, is similarly helpful and realistic.
Make sure your required minimum
three hours of private pilot night training
includes "one cross-country ﬂight of over
100 nautical miles total distance" and
"10 takeoffs and 10 landings to a full stop
(with each landing involving a ﬂight in
the traffic pattern) at an airport."
dan.namowitz@aopa.org

AOPA.ORG/FT

21
https://elearning.aopa.org/client/app.html#/quizzes/100082?embedded https://www.aopa.org/training-and-safety/technique/night-flying http://www.AOPA.ORG/FT
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