How many of you fly at night regularly?

StinkBug

StinkBug

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I assume most of the commercial guys here do it a lot, but what about all the private pilots? I really enjoyed all the night flight during my training, and did my first night flight since getting my PPL last night. Just curious how many still fly after dark after getting their ticket.
 
I fly at night frequently. I stopped for a few months after a local guy went down when his engine died at night.

I like night flying enough that I am willing to accept that risk. I no longer fly with my kids at night though.

In the winter it is almost inevitable. Sun sets so early.
 
I prefer flying at night and if I had to hazard a guess, 40% of my flights are at night.
 
I always did much of my flying at night. Really beautiful and smoother air.
 
I fly at night as often as I drive at night. There are risks, but they can be mitigated.
 
I fly at night when I need to get somewhere and it's night time. It used to mean I flew at night quite a lot, both summer and winter. Nowadays, night is usually the last leg of a Cloud Nine trip.
 
When I was working I flew at night all the time, loved it. But, now that I'm just playing I have logged one night landing...in three years.

I usually fly early in the morning.
 
I would prefer it if it wasn't for the iffy outcome in case of an engine failure.

I also made myself a simple a rule... I don't fly into an airport at night that I haven't been to at least twice in the day.
 
Brad Z said:
I fly at night as often as I drive at night. There are risks, but they can be mitigated.
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Not to hijack, but as a very low time student, I would be interested in some ways to mitigate the risk. I haven't flown at night yet, but I am apprehensively looking forward to it.....


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Back when I was based at Dulles I flew at night regularly. It was minutes from my house / office and it was easy to go up and really everything is so bright from the ground light in the area.

Departing RIC one night recently I turned west and it got DARK in a hurry. I was happy I had my instrument rating, I even asked for an approach into CJR.
 
I almost exclusively fly at night. It's my first choice.
 
mikeinbama said:
Not to hijack, but as a very low time student, I would be interested in some ways to mitigate the risk. I haven't flown at night yet, but I am apprehensively looking forward to it.....


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I fly at night regularly. I have an all plane BRS parachute which lowers my risk substantially in case of engine failure. The best time to land in controlled airspace is at night when there is virtually no traffic. And the air is cool, dense and no thermals.
 
Fly higher, Follow Roads, Carry extra flashlights, and one thing I do is zig zag airport to airport (not landing) but just breaking it down into shorter legs where I can be over an airfield at multiple points during the flight.

I am really susceptible to leans and other weird sensations. I have learned to put my eyes inside and fly the Attitude indicator for 20-30 seconds to make those sensations go away.
 
cowman said:
I would prefer it if it wasn't for the iffy outcome in case of an engine failure.

I also made myself a simple a rule... I don't fly into an airport at night that I haven't been to at least twice in the day.
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That is why I bought a twin for my first plane. Right after I got my PP I flew a XC from Long Beach CA to Ft Wayne IN. On the way out as I crossed through into the desert in the morning I was looking down noticing all the places I could stick the plane and what kind of maneuvering it would take....

The return leg I came through there at night in the dark and thought to myself, "This is nuts, if the engines craps, there is no way I'll survive by anything other than sheer luck." A couple weeks later I had a Travelair with Turbos. That was a great plane.
 
I just checked my (electronic) logbook and see that, historically, 25% of my flight time has been at night. Over the past year, only 20% has been at night (owed mostly to instrument training happening mostly during the day).

There is some added risk to night flying, mostly due to the fact that you can't see clearly what's on the ground below you. If your engine quits, the commonly taught "aim for darkness" always made me wonder. I'm not sure if that's designed for my benefit or for those on the ground. Aiming for a dark area could mean water, trees, a quarry, etc... none of which would be particularly easy/safe to land on/in. But I'm the one up there flying, so no reason someone sitting at home should be affected if I can control it. (Though I'd prefer having a well-lit, but currently unused field available.)
 
mjburian said:
There is some added risk to night flying, mostly due to the fact that you can't see clearly what's on the ground below you. If your engine quits, the commonly taught "aim for darkness" always made me wonder. I'm not sure if that's designed for my benefit or for those on the ground. Aiming for a dark area could mean water, trees, a quarry, etc... none of which would be particularly easy/safe to land on/in. But I'm the one up there flying, so no reason someone sitting at home should be affected if I can control it. (Though I'd prefer having a well-lit, but currently unused field available.)
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I'll take my chances with power lines.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
Fly higher, Follow Roads, Carry extra flashlights, and one thing I do is zig zag airport to airport (not landing) but just breaking it down into shorter legs where I can be over an airfield at multiple points during the flight.

I am really susceptible to leans and other weird sensations. I have learned to put my eyes inside and fly the Attitude indicator for 20-30 seconds to make those sensations go away.
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So you ARE working on your instrument rating! :wink2:

As a side note, I just now noticed your signature. I'm not sure if it's new or not, but it made me laugh pretty hard. Well-played. :rofl:
 
mjburian said:
So you ARE working on your instrument rating! :wink2:

As a side note, I just now noticed your signature. I'm not sure if it's new or not, but it made me laugh pretty hard. Well-played. :rofl:
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Ha! yes, I made that last night. I was going to make one of those maps and it was looking pathetic so I created one I like better :).
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
Ha! yes, I made that last night. I was going to make one of those maps and it was looking pathetic so I created one I like better :).
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Pathetic is having your PPL for over 7 years, your IR for 3 months and not having a flight outside of about 125nm (see my map). Every time I manage to find (what I think is) a free day or weekend and try to plan something "big" it seems it's either weathered out or my wife has other plans for us. One of the things I'm looking most forward to in Commercial training is the long cross country, since I'll *have* to break out of my "short flight" rut.

More on topic, I find that I don't much care whether a flight's taking place in daylight or at night when VFR (other than if a passenger has a preference). But I'm not really excited about the prospect of flying in IMC at night, since I'm almost always flying single pilot IFR (and don't have an AP). That may change as I get more comfortable and lower my IFR minimums, though.
 
I never liked flying at night and haven't done it since my PPL check ride. Most of my flights are sight seeing anyway. Not much to see at night except lights.
 
Okay, it's an old saw but it makes me laugh outloud and someone has to say it...

Flying single engine at night is easy. If you have an engine failure just turn your landing light on. If you don't like what you see just turn it back off. :goofy:

Bryan...I used to have a map titled "states I've been arrested in". It was almost as impressive as your "states I can identify" version! ;)
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
Fly higher, Follow Roads, Carry extra flashlights, and one thing I do is zig zag airport to airport (not landing) but just breaking it down into shorter legs where I can be over an airfield at multiple points during the flight.

I am really susceptible to leans and other weird sensations. I have learned to put my eyes inside and fly the Attitude indicator for 20-30 seconds to make those sensations go away.
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I prefer to fly at night, especially in TX. I also like turning on airports at night :) you can see them miles upon miles away!!!!!
 
I flew all over Alaska in single engine planes, in the winter, which means night time flying, VFR and never had any thoughts about it. Flying out of Barrow in winter means no day flight at all. Easy to stay night current there, except in summer.

Of course my job now requires night flight, but it is in twins. I prefer night flight. Smoother and cooler air, less traffic, less radio traffic. The other night I was switched to another frequency, and the only time I heard a voice on frequency was when I checked in, and when I was handed off to the next sector. 30 minutes of wondering if my radio had quit. It was also 3am.

I guess if I flew a lot over populated areas I would be a little more concerned of engine failure in a single than I am over open areas.
 
evapilotaz said:
I never liked flying at night and haven't done it since my PPL check ride. Most of my flights are sight seeing anyway. Not much to see at night except lights.
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You havn't flown over a city like Vegas, San Fran, or LA then. There is nothing to describe the night experience over a big city, near the ocean, or out over the black desert with the stars touching the plane.
 
mikeinbama said:
Not to hijack, but as a very low time student, I would be interested in some ways to mitigate the risk. I haven't flown at night yet, but I am apprehensively looking forward to it.....


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There's really no difference in the risk. Failures don't know if the sun is shining or not. My rule is to never fly a route at night I haven't flown in daylight so I'm familiar with terrain, outs, etc. unless ther's another pilot with me who knows the area. And never in the mountains at night.

I'm usually returning from someplace else and try to follow the interstates or major highways. I've landed 50 miles from home because I couldn't see the city lights ahead of me. Below was nice and clear, so I called the nearest airport, got vectors to land, borrowed a car and drove the 50 miles home.
 
This frustrates me. I'd love to fly at night - especially when during the day temps near 100*F at my local airport.

But I can't because I am no longer allowed to renew my airport pass, which is necessary to enter/exit through the airport gate; the gate closes a little after sunset.

I used to have an airport pass, but recent changes at the local airport stipulate that unless a pilot is an owner of an aircraft based at the airport (or a CFI or some other service personnel), a pilot - renter like myself - will not be issued an airport pass (to open the closed airport gate). This is what I've been told (have not seen it written).

So I went to "the city" and they were clueless, telling me the flight school i rent from should be able to give me a pass. The flight school sends me back to "the city".

I guess I don't wanna fly hard enough at night to get to the bottom of it (if there is one). And I didn't yet try to meet the airport manager.

I landed a few times after dark (departed just before sunset) and was lucky that I met a CFI whom I tailgated out of the airport through the gate.
 
Not as much as I would like to. Most of my flying has been during the day
 
In high school I flew at night all the time. Nothing like getting done working at the airport after school and taking one of the planes up for an hour around the city. Calm, not as busy, easier to see planes, and loved looking at the lights. Especially Christmas lights in the winter.
 
iWantWings said:
This frustrates me. I'd love to fly at night - especially when during the day temps near 100*F at my local airport.

But I can't because I am no longer allowed to renew my airport pass, which is necessary to enter/exit through the airport gate; the gate closes a little after sunset.

I used to have an airport pass, but recent changes at the local airport stipulate that unless a pilot is an owner of an aircraft based at the airport (or a CFI or some other service personnel), a pilot - renter like myself - will not be issued an airport pass (to open the closed airport gate). This is what I've been told (have not seen it written).

So I went to "the city" and they were clueless, telling me the flight school i rent from should be able to give me a pass. The flight school sends me back to "the city".

I guess I don't wanna fly hard enough at night to get to the bottom of it (if there is one). And I didn't yet try to meet the airport manager.

I landed a few times after dark (departed just before sunset) and was lucky that I met a CFI whom I tailgated out of the airport through the gate.
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Where is this?
 
iWantWings said:
This frustrates me. I'd love to fly at night - especially when during the day temps near 100*F at my local airport.

But I can't because I am no longer allowed to renew my airport pass, which is necessary to enter/exit through the airport gate; the gate closes a little after sunset.

I used to have an airport pass, but recent changes at the local airport stipulate that unless a pilot is an owner of an aircraft based at the airport (or a CFI or some other service personnel), a pilot - renter like myself - will not be issued an airport pass (to open the closed airport gate). This is what I've been told (have not seen it written).

So I went to "the city" and they were clueless, telling me the flight school i rent from should be able to give me a pass. The flight school sends me back to "the city".

I guess I don't wanna fly hard enough at night to get to the bottom of it (if there is one). And I didn't yet try to meet the airport manager.

I landed a few times after dark (departed just before sunset) and was lucky that I met a CFI whom I tailgated out of the airport through the gate.
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There is a mistake somewhere; as a public-use airport (and I assume it is) this could easily be construed as a discriminatory practice.

What airport we talkin' about?
 
With the family: Rarely unless the weather is perfect, the moon is 80%+ illuminated, we have O2, only to a familiar destination and we really have to.

Solo: Enough to stay current.
 
I fly at work at night, now I almost fly more at night than day.

In my own plane it's probably 70/30 favoring day, really it's just when ever I feel like it, I'm not too scared of the night.

My first engine failure (as in engine making 0 power all the way down) was at night, I was able to glide into a airport that was below my path, it really comes down to having good situational and a cool head and planning your altitude with thought for glide range and projected outs.
 
I like flying at night, but don't normally do it. I want to, but don't have much experience with it. Also like many have said above, there is added risk, if you were to get an engine failure. But i do like night flying :)
 
mikeinbama said:
Not to hijack, but as a very low time student, I would be interested in some ways to mitigate the risk. I haven't flown at night yet, but I am apprehensively looking forward to it.....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Fly high, make sure you don't run out of gas, and be proficient in flight solely by reference to instruments.
 
I love flying at night, but the older I get the less I enjoy it.

If I had a Cirrus or a many motor airplane I'd probably never fly it in the day time. There's just many times that a night engine failure in a single engine airplane means you are about to die.
 
Is there a recommended procedure?
Have they run the numbers to see what increases your chance for survival based on past night engine failures?

I am sure the numbers are significantly lower related to survivability but is there an official recommendation?
 
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