Finding the Airport at Night

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rt4388

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rt4388
Any advice for finding airports at night? I seem to be struggling with locating the beacon, the runway, and just about all the big lights until I get fairly close to the airport. Ideally, on a clear night, I would like to swap over to the CTAF or Tower about 10 miles out, but that just doesn't seem possible for me to do. Lately, I've been flipping on the lights via comm 2 fairly far out and monitoring the CTAF via comm 2, but I still would like to have more time to have a visual on the field. Thanks guys!
 
In the country, never a big problem.
In the city, forget it! I find the rotating beacon useful to me. Staying a bit high helps.
 
The beacon is easy to catch if you sort of "blur" your field of vision and wait for the rhythmic flashes to catch your attention (similar to sensing relative motion)
 
It can get quite difficult at night. Just takes a little getting use to. Usually look for the large dark spot with all the open space around the runway.
 
If nobody is on short final, ask the tower to flash or turn up the lights. If uncontrolled, do it yourself.
If you have a fancy avionics set up you can build an extended centerline with an X mile fix.
 
It kind of depends on the airport and its location. Use whatever you have in the cockpit to help narrow down your search. Then try looking at the horizon slightly to the left or right being aware of your peripheral vision for any light flashes. Be patient because the beacon always seems to rotate slower than it actually does.
 
It just takes experience. Some airports are easier than others. New to you airports are always the hardest. It's easiest to see the runway when you're aligned with it; you'll never see it if you approach the runway at 90°. Runway lights always seem dimmer than they should be, even when the intensity is turned up. Instrument Rated pilots will often fly the approach at night just to get lined up with the runway.
 
Know it's relative position to the city/town it's near. Preflight planning is invaluable for this. Visualize it before you ever take flight. Even then it's sometimes hard but it get easier once you know what you're looking for.
 
AHN is pretty easy to find for me. The city is easy to see. Find the city, and then look east. There are 3 bright, orange lights just north of the beacon.

You will never see runway light until you're lined up and within 5 miles or so.

Like Gucci said, look for the large, open space. The airport is exactly where the light aren't.
 
Gucci Pilot said:
It can get quite difficult at night. Just takes a little getting use to. Usually look for the large dark spot with all the open space around the runway.
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Yup.....

I miss airports that have lead in Rabbits..... Those things will get your attention...:yes:
 
In south Florida there are lots of airports that are hard to spot given all the light pollution. What I use the most in my plane is the extended runway centerline feature of my GPS. If you have something like Foreflight it will automatically give you an extended centerline that works just as well. Flew into Ft. lauderdale executive a few weeks ago and could not see the beacon until I was lined up on final using the extended centerline feature in my GPS.
 
rt4388 said:
Any advice for finding airports at night?
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Two words: Synthetic vision.

I became night current this fall, for the first time in 18 years. I have flown with SV for 2+ years, but was totally blown away with the difference it made when flying at night.

Formerly, I, too, had trouble finding arports at night. Now? There is a big, pink "balloon" floating over the airport on my EFIS, depicted in the virtual world. It was so easy to see and use that it was literally no different than flying in broad daylight.

SV rocks.
 
Hell, LAX didn't look like an airport! Looked like a city till I spotted the runway!!

Urban sprawl pretty much drowns out the airport. The twinkle of the street lights and cars on the streets make the airport the needle in the haystack.

Out here in the sticks, click on the lights and it's like Jesus himself is beckoning you to land! Angels start singing and the force draws you to the numbers like magic!!! Just remember to give them another 7 clicks on the mic a couple miles out!
 
Jay Honeck said:
Two words: Synthetic vision.

I became night current this fall, for the first time in 18 years. I have flown with SV for 2+ years, but was totally blown away with the difference it made when flying at night.

Formerly, I, too, had trouble finding arports at night. Now? There is a big, pink "balloon" floating over the airport on my EFIS, depicted in the virtual world. It was so easy to see and use that it was literally no different than flying in broad daylight.

SV rocks.
Click to expand...

For that matter, a plain ole magenta line works pretty well too. Runway center line extensions are helpful too.

SV is great for those airports with terrain that make seeing the airport difficult if not impossible until you're right overhead.
 
If you have a GPS, load an approach, line yourself up and cycle the runway lights. Once you know where the airport is, you can still fly a pattern.

When looking for a beacon, don't look for the color, some of the lenses are a bit bleached. Look for the interval.
 
Does your airport have a VOR on the field? That can be helpful as well. Don't stare directly where you think the airport is as the lights will tend to "disappear"
 
Doesn't even have to be on the field. You can fly to a nearby VOR, find the heading from the VOR to your destination airport, then fly outbound from the VOR on that heading. That can be helpful if you don't have GPS or SV on board.
 
Some rwy lights are hard to see if you aren't lined up with them.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
Don't look for lights. Look for the airport shaped dark spot.
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This. Plus the runway extended lines. Plus the final approach fix and inbound heading from an approach plate. Plus a nearby VOR, bearing from it, and the distance from it.
 
N801BH said:
Yup.....

I miss airports that have lead in Rabbits..... Those things will get your attention...:yes:
Click to expand...

Yup, I was looking for an airport in Minneapolis. The tower turned on the rabbit and I made a right turn to the airport...
 
oregonboy109 said:
Doesn't even have to be on the field. You can fly to a nearby VOR, find the heading from the VOR to your destination airport, then fly outbound from the VOR on that heading. That can be helpful if you don't have GPS or SV on board.
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That info is in the A/FD listing...could be done during preflight planning.

Bob Gardner
 
Here is a trick I have been taught

If you have A GPS with a display...and the airport yourare looking for itsloaded as the next waypoint...hit the OBS mode...spin it to runway heading and arm it...

Lo and behold...the approach end of the runway will be displayed. Fly to the line and turn onto final. Keep in mind that the "pivot point" of the new magenta line may not be on the runway of the destination airport but off slightly left or right.

This is a useful tool.
 
Jay Honeck said:
Two words: Synthetic vision.

I became night current this fall, for the first time in 18 years. I have flown with SV for 2+ years, but was totally blown away with the difference it made when flying at night.

Formerly, I, too, had trouble finding arports at night. Now? There is a big, pink "balloon" floating over the airport on my EFIS, depicted in the virtual world. It was so easy to see and use that it was literally no different than flying in broad daylight.

SV rocks.
Click to expand...

Nothing against SV, but please tell me you actually see the airport itself (and not just on SV) before you report the field in sight.
 
Kelvin said:
Here is a trick I have been taught

If you have A GPS with a display...and the airport yourare looking for itsloaded as the next waypoint...hit the OBS mode...spin it to runway heading and arm it...

Lo and behold...the approach end of the runway will be displayed. Fly to the line and turn onto final. Keep in mind that the "pivot point" of the new magenta line may not be on the runway of the destination airport but off slightly left or right.

This is a useful tool.
Click to expand...


Thats also how I set up a hold. Add the point into,the flight plan and then spent the obs to the inbound leg. ,easy peasy.
 
Jay Honeck said:
Two words: Synthetic vision.
I became night current this fall, for the first time in 18 years. ...

SV rocks.
Click to expand...

I'm sure it does, but any aviation GPS moving map with an "extended centerline" feature will allow you to fly right to an airport and line up perfectly with the runway, with a couple fewer zeroes in the price tag. We've come a long way with navigational aids in the cockpit in the last 18 years.
 
Yeah airports are way easier to spot at night when away from big cities. Just do the 3, 5, or 7 clicks and they pop right out of the darkness.

In the city it's the opposite. The city lights are far brighter than those of the airport. Look in the A/FD to see if the airport has high intensity lights and turn them on if needed. If there is any other traffic, though, don't do this without talking to the other guys first as it tends to **** off landing pilots when the lights suddenly become blinding on short final.

If it's a towered airport you can ask them if they can flip lights to high for a moment, traffic permitting.

But aside from all that, yeah SV is good but almost no one has it outside FF or WingX versions. On FF I find the utter lack of surface detail on my iPad to be unhelpful. There's little to reference against at night.

Use the yellow spots on your sectional. Those are city lights and you can sometimes orient yourself by them. This blob is this suburb, that blob is that suburb, there should be a reservoir-shaped dark spot north of the airport, there's a major highway to the west running N-S, etc. And then yeah you look for the dark spot where the airport should be and try to find the beacon.
 
If you are trying to find it visually, without nav aids, come in 1000' high and circle around above where its supposed to be. Spend some time looking. Turn the lights on, of course. Beacons are going away and are becoming dimmer. Use runway lights. Look at the runway numbers and fly that heading and look for a runway parallel to you that is lit up.

Using a GPS should get you right to it. The IFR ones have the OBS mode, extending the runway centerline. That really helps orient things. Might be able to do something similar to that with some of the VFR units.
 
Fail Safe is an operating Moving Map app or MFD.

Last Resort, have the tower shoot red flares with sparkling stars
(oh wait, that's 4th of July celebrations)
 
coloradobluesky said:
If you are trying to find it visually, without nav aids, come in 1000' high and circle around above where its supposed to be. Spend some time looking. Turn the lights on, of course. Beacons are going away and are becoming dimmer. Use runway lights. Look at the runway numbers and fly that heading and look for a runway parallel to you that is lit up.

Using a GPS should get you right to it. The IFR ones have the OBS mode, extending the runway centerline. That really helps orient things. Might be able to do something similar to that with some of the VFR units.
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I thought beacons were required at lighted airports at least when activated by the pilot.
 
Does the "look off-center to use your peripheral vision" (i.e. rods vs. cones for night vision) trick work for you guys? Seems to be hit & miss for me. Sometimes looking direct works better and sometimes off-center works better. I am careful not to fixate for too long, though.
 
Even if you aren't IFR rated, learn how to read approach plates. They are designed to get you to the airport when it can't be seen. Don't try flying full instrument approaches but use the navaids to get you to the airport.
 
Foreflight with the extended centerline from the airport your looking for,it's getting more difficult to see the beacon in a city surrounding.
 
asicer said:
Does the "look off-center to use your peripheral vision" (i.e. rods vs. cones for night vision) trick work for you guys? Seems to be hit & miss for me. Sometimes looking direct works better and sometimes off-center works better. I am careful not to fixate for too long, though.
Click to expand...

This trick works well when the entire scene is dark. I use it a lot when hunting and it works.

But when you have a bright cityscape surrounding a tiny strip of airport your night vision is overall just compromised when scanning that area. But looking off center still relatively better. I'd try it for sure since it costs nothing and see if I detect runway lights.
 
Graueradler said:
Even if you aren't IFR rated, learn how to read approach plates. They are designed to get you to the airport when it can't be seen. Don't try flying full instrument approaches but use the navaids to get you to the airport.
Click to expand...

You can set up the approach without descending below pattern altitude and enter on the upwind VFR, with basic IFR knowledge. You will know exactly where you are in reference to the airport and if you follow the approach course obstacles are less of an issue.
 
Personally if I'm on familiar I'll load up the approach and use it for guidance, presuming I don't just go IFR, otherwise the extended center lines on fire flight can help.

Normally if you don't focus in the beacon usually will just pop into your vision easily, as for the runway and lights that just depends, some are easy to spot other look like they were hidden with birthday candles for lights.
 
I still have trouble finding the airport depending on it's location. What I find funny is I can normally find numerous airports while enroute, but the arrival airport I have to follow the ILS. :rofl:
 
I had a really hard time with this in the beginning as well. I overcame it by flying to a lot of airports within an hour of my home drome, all at night, repeatedly, just to get used to it.

It takes time, but eventually you get good at it.
 
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