First night XC...

StinkBug

StinkBug

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Dallas
...and it was awesome!

Got a text from my instructor today asking if I'd like to fly up to Ontario (KONT) for our night cross country, and then finish off my night take offs and landings there. I said yes, and met him at KCRQ at around 9pm. Took my time with the preflight and getting all my stuff ready, going over the route etc. By the time we got to the runway and were ready to line up they were just closing the tower. It couldn't have been a nicer night, totally clear skies and very little wind. My CFI told me he was just gonna be a passenger and that I should do everything. For the first time I actually didn't feel overwhelmed by everything going on, maybe because we just did a day XC to Santa Monica yesterday. I got flight following from SoCal, and we had a really nice smooth flight up the coast to Dana Point where we turned inland. Really pretty quiet the whole way....until we got into ONT airspace. Apparently we timed our flight just right to arrive with all the inbound UPS traffic. On our first approach we were following a 767, and had traffic lined up behind us on final. At around 300' AGL my CFI called a go-around as it was sounding like we might be getting in the way of following traffic. We ended up watching them land from the downwind, turns out we had plenty of room after all. On the next one we were following another heavy jet, and after landing tower asked us to turn left immediately, turns out there was a 747 right behind us :hairraise: I think in the time we were in the air to when we taxi'd back to 26L we saw a 767, 747, MD80, and a couple Airbusses. We were the only thing at the airport that WASN'T a UPS jet. We did 4 more T/O and landings with a bit less traffic than the first, and got to watch several jets land from the taxiway which was pretty damn cool! While waiting to be cleared for takeoff one of them taxi'd across behind us so close I swear it's wing almost went over our tail.

The trip back to Carlsbad was just as uneventful as the trip up, again with flight following helping us out. Very little traffic at that hour, so it was pretty quiet in the headsets for once. Since winds were pretty calm we decided to land on 6 instead of the usual 24 because I'd never landed in that direction. Well that would have been great except we couldn't get the runway lights to come on, no matter how much we clicked the mic. We switched back to SoCal and they tried to assist us, but couldn't get ahold of anyone. The PAPI was on, but that was it, so once I felt that it wasn't gonna happen I called a go-around. We were hoping that we'd be able to see the numbers as we got lower, but the Pipers landing lights just aren't that bright. We climbed back up and did a 180 for RW24, because at least the lead in lights were working on that end. SoCal called us back on the Palomar frequency to check in and make sure we were ok, and we went ahead and landed safely. And wouldn't you know it, just as we started to turn off the runway, the lights turned on. :lol:

I was definitely a bit intimidated going into this flight, and certainly being the smallest aircraft operating at ONT by a couple hundred thousand pounds was a little eye opening, but it ended up being a really fun and relaxed flight.
 
Wait until it's just you and you don't have the cfi to rely on...

Night flights give me the creeps. Good job though.
 
I like flying at night! The lights, smooth cool air, what's not to like? I really like the challenge of landing at new airports, and I really like 24 hour fueling! I could fly all night if I didn't need sleep. I should have been a FedX pilot. :lol:
 
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Night flying is halfway to instrument flying in IMC. Do it all the time. The air is cool, the airports empty.
 
Night flights can be a lot of fun. Make sure your skills are up for it.
 
StinkBug;1509111 At around 300' AGL my CFI called a go-around as it was sounding like we might be getting in the way of following traffic. .[/QUOTE said:
I bet the controller loved that. He worked to get you guys inline and then you changed plans on him (her).:lol::lol: Anyway, it worked out fine. Don't worry about traffic behind you, that is the controllers job to make sure there is room, but don't go too slow.

I love night flying. I probably have approximately 3000 hours at night. Usually smooth, cool in summer, less traffic. I have gone into Albuquerque late at night and stayed with approach control all the way to parking. And since he knew where I was going after this he gave me my next clearance before I shut down. Then told me when ready to leave to call tower for taxi. Sometimes the radio gets really relaxed when you fly into the same place a lot.

Scary part is sometimes its so quiet I don't hear ATC for up to 30 minutes, making me think my radio quit.
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this reminds me, I need to get night current. love flying at night.
 
congrats! I love night flying... I also like watching very distant (and I mean VERY) lightening at night, as you can see it long ways off, if you are flying without clouds. I prefer night flying over day flying, as the air is smooth and temps are cooler.
 
Congrats, night flights can be so relaxing at times when the air is smooth and ATC is less congested. My wife loves them also.

I do have a funny story to tell about my first XC Night flight. This was in a beat up old cesna 150 with one NAV CDI for tracking vor and my instructor would not let me take any other navigation device (yes this included the ipad). So I had a clock, 1 nav, and compass (actually kind of fun) He also taught me to light up a non towered airport on their freq if I thought I was near it on my track to re calibrate my time.

I flew down to south bend Indiana KSBN at about 11:00pm.
15 miles out I thought I had the airport in sight so I reported it. Unfortunately it was down town south bend and when I realized it I let them know. The conversation went something like this:

ME: South bend tower this is Cessna XXX, my bad I dont really see you , can you see me"?
Tower: LAUGH.....LAUGH.....GIGGLE......MORE LAUGHING......
ME: IS that a yes or no
Tower: Yeah, you zipped right past us to the east, we were wondering where you were going, look to your right, we are waving at you right now.
ME: Did I mention I was a student.
Tower: We figured that out, no worries (more laughter) turn to 300 degree heading, you should see the airport and make left traffic for runway xx.

A little embarrassed, but I learned a lot and had a great time.
 
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Zeldman said:
I bet the controller loved that. He worked to get you guys inline and then you changed plans on him (her).:lol::lol: Anyway, it worked out fine. Don't worry about traffic behind you, that is the controllers job to make sure there is room, but don't go too slow.
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I think that was his concern. There were several jets in line behind us, and I was doing things in order, and one step at a time. Exactly how he trained me to do it, but that's not very quick. The controller was actually very polite and helpful there. I figured we'd be a total annoyance to them, but he was quite friendly.
 
Night flying is a kick, I've done a fair share in my plane, something different about flying a 40s era aircraft durning the night.

For work I do it, but that plane is a little more equipped and 9/10 times I file.
 
I have 160tt... No pic night hours :(
( loser ).
 
Flying at night is one of the most beautiful experiences possible.

I plan on never doing it again -- or, perhaps, once or twice in my life.
 
spcalan1 said:
I have 160tt... No pic night hours :(
( loser ).
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It's really, really easy to fix.

Best is to get an instructor and just do it. It's legal for you to do it solo, but you're obviously not current.

Night flight is a lot of fun, but you do need to be aware of extra hazards. There is nothing quite like a full-moon cross-country in clear weather.
 
frfly172 said:
Night flights can be a lot of fun. Make sure your skills are up for it.
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I absolutely love flying at night. Smoother air, gorgeous city lights, the soft glow of the instruments - there's just something about it that's awesome.

But yeah, make sure your skills are there. Back when I was working on my multi, the flight school's Archer crashed in Tennessee on a clear night, killing all four onboard. The NTSB concluded that it was a dark night, and the VFR PIC simply lost control - similar to a VFR in IMC kind of thing. Since then the school's insurance company required an IFR flight plan for every night flight beyond 50nm, which was basically their way of saying an instrument rating was required for night cross countries.

So enjoy, but be careful!
 
Night flying is a blast. No sun = no wind. Almost all my nights have been beautiful and calm
 
Are you flying out of Pinnacle Aviation? That's where I got my PPL and ASEL-INST. Is Randy still there and does George still own the place?
 
Nope, I did check them out though. I've been doing my training with an independent instructor.
 
You'll like this - when I did my night XC, I had tuned in the CTAF for an uncontrolled airport at night. My CFI and I continually tried to raise the lights but they wouldn't. When we were about to turn base with a dark field, my CFI looked at my radio and saw that I had tuned in the wrong CTAF freq (off by one digit). We changed freq, keyed 7 times and BAM the whole airport lit up.

It was actually pretty scary that we got that close giving position reports on the wrong frequency. Thankfully it was dead quiet and nobody was around, but it could have been really a dangerous situation. Good life lesson!!
 
jcepiano said:
You'll like this - when I did my night XC, I had tuned in the CTAF for an uncontrolled airport at night. My CFI and I continually tried to raise the lights but they wouldn't. When we were about to turn base with a dark field, my CFI looked at my radio and saw that I had tuned in the wrong CTAF freq (off by one digit). We changed freq, keyed 7 times and BAM the whole airport lit up.



It was actually pretty scary that we got that close giving position reports on the wrong frequency. Thankfully it was dead quiet and nobody was around, but it could have been really a dangerous situation. Good life lesson!!
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I'd say that there was little danger unless you have a hard time spotting other aircraft lights in the pitch black at an uncontrolled field so quiet they purposefully turn the lights off to save bulbs and electricity at night.

Think about it. :)

Position reports at a deserted airport. Kinda the same thing as the sound of one hand clapping, or a tree falling in the forest if no one is there to hear it. :)
 
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