SkyChaser
Pattern Altitude
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2020
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SkyChaser
I went out flying, after midnight, out in the starlight...well maybe not quite so late (and apologies to Patsy Cline. 
). I did, however, fly for the first time at night Thursday evening! I'm still not sure what's the proper adjective to use, as I can't decide if it was awesome and fun or just mentally exhausting and slightly frustrating.
Driving west on the way to the airport had a gorgeous view of the sunset. I decided to go straight down to the airport after work, even though I'd get there about an hour before my lesson was supposed to start because I'd rather waste time at the airport than at work.
When I got there, my instructor was getting ready to go up before she went up with me since she hadn't gone flying at night for quite a while. She'd gotten another instructor to go with her, since she wanted to fly right seat and she hadn't been flying at night for so long. I was going to sit on the ramp and watch, but the other instructor said I should come along and sit in the back seat, so I did. First time in the back seat and flying at night! That was really weird. Totally different sight picture for sure! It was a really beautiful night - very smooth, very clear, and very dark. I didn't get any pictures, though, since I didn't want to turn my phone on and mess up my night vision. I wish I had some, though!
After my instructor did three landings, she must not have been feeling very confident, because she asked if I minded if she let the other instructor sit right seat while I flew some circuits. I didn't, so we shutdown and did the seat shuffle. I learned it's not normal to get out of the backseat by sliding between the two front seats, that most people don't read the checklist by the glow of the instrument lighting, and that if I ever take a tall passenger flying with me, they should sit in the seat behind me because there's more leg room back there than in the front. Also, if you're flying with two instructors, sometimes the best thing you can do is just completely tune them out...the distraction potential just doubled.
Actually, I learned a lot more than that. Night flight is hard! Takeoffs are weird, because of the illusion that the nose is way up in the sky, keeping track of wind drift is difficult, and trying to judge round-out timing made me feel like a 15-hr student again. Also, I don't think I've overshot the final turn that many times in a row for about 20 hours! I did six circuits, and it was getting better at the end, but I still haven't found that sweet spot for round-out that results in consistently good results. None of the landings were bad, per se, they just weren't up to my preferred standards. I did, however, stop overshooting final. I also learned that the plane handles a little differently when it's more fully loaded. Climbing takes a whole lot longer than normal!
My instructor took this picture from the backseat. I think it's on final, as there's too many lights through the windshield to be anywhere else. If you want to practice black-hole approaches, you should come fly in here! Before the moon rises, it is dark. LOL Which means...you really have to remember to turn the lights on. Every time. Otherwise, you land, take off, turn crosswind, glance over your shoulder to judge the downwind turn - and the runway has completely disappeared. That is freaky. Thankfully, it's easily fixable!
I got 6/10 landings done, and now I'm waiting for the wind to take a break to squeeze in my night cross-country. Getting these last few things knocked out has been a challenge with the winds and weather we've been having, but I'm slowly getting closer. Slowly being the operative word. Did I mention I struggle with being patient?! LOL
). I did, however, fly for the first time at night Thursday evening! I'm still not sure what's the proper adjective to use, as I can't decide if it was awesome and fun or just mentally exhausting and slightly frustrating.
Driving west on the way to the airport had a gorgeous view of the sunset. I decided to go straight down to the airport after work, even though I'd get there about an hour before my lesson was supposed to start because I'd rather waste time at the airport than at work.
When I got there, my instructor was getting ready to go up before she went up with me since she hadn't gone flying at night for quite a while. She'd gotten another instructor to go with her, since she wanted to fly right seat and she hadn't been flying at night for so long. I was going to sit on the ramp and watch, but the other instructor said I should come along and sit in the back seat, so I did. First time in the back seat and flying at night! That was really weird. Totally different sight picture for sure! It was a really beautiful night - very smooth, very clear, and very dark. I didn't get any pictures, though, since I didn't want to turn my phone on and mess up my night vision. I wish I had some, though!
After my instructor did three landings, she must not have been feeling very confident, because she asked if I minded if she let the other instructor sit right seat while I flew some circuits. I didn't, so we shutdown and did the seat shuffle. I learned it's not normal to get out of the backseat by sliding between the two front seats, that most people don't read the checklist by the glow of the instrument lighting, and that if I ever take a tall passenger flying with me, they should sit in the seat behind me because there's more leg room back there than in the front. Also, if you're flying with two instructors, sometimes the best thing you can do is just completely tune them out...the distraction potential just doubled.
Actually, I learned a lot more than that. Night flight is hard! Takeoffs are weird, because of the illusion that the nose is way up in the sky, keeping track of wind drift is difficult, and trying to judge round-out timing made me feel like a 15-hr student again. Also, I don't think I've overshot the final turn that many times in a row for about 20 hours! I did six circuits, and it was getting better at the end, but I still haven't found that sweet spot for round-out that results in consistently good results. None of the landings were bad, per se, they just weren't up to my preferred standards. I did, however, stop overshooting final.
I also learned that the plane handles a little differently when it's more fully loaded. Climbing takes a whole lot longer than normal!
My instructor took this picture from the backseat. I think it's on final, as there's too many lights through the windshield to be anywhere else. If you want to practice black-hole approaches, you should come fly in here! Before the moon rises, it is dark. LOL Which means...you really have to remember to turn the lights on. Every time. Otherwise, you land, take off, turn crosswind, glance over your shoulder to judge the downwind turn - and the runway has completely disappeared. That is freaky. Thankfully, it's easily fixable!
I got 6/10 landings done, and now I'm waiting for the wind to take a break to squeeze in my night cross-country. Getting these last few things knocked out has been a challenge with the winds and weather we've been having, but I'm slowly getting closer. Slowly being the operative word. Did I mention I struggle with being patient?! LOL
