Night landings

[spinfire]

Sounds like a teaching technique to help you learn about how the visual cues (not queues ) change when you are landing at night. My CFI didn't do this but he did intentionally take me to several VERY different airports at night, big Class Cs with long wide runways, small untowered with long and narrow runways, an airport with a short and wider runway. This is an important part of tuning your visual cue response for night landing.

It should like this "glassy water" type technique is a good way to let YOU learn on your own about these cues while your CFI monitors, rather than the more active approach my CFI took where he told me ahead of time how different runway types will affect my perception of the right flare height. Different instructors have different techniques.

 

[Dave Krall CFII]

Another insidious, sneaky, back stabbing way haze illusion occurs to varying degrees, is when flying from dry conditions (or in any conditions when a normally effective defroster vent is temporarily switched off) and approaching a cool marine layer, especially at night:

Particularly if there are a little bit of fine dust particles on the windshield acting as condensation nuclei for water vapor to condense around. The small area of windscreens that commonly curves down to provide enhanced side visibility is typically particularly prone to this condensation. Even though the outside air is perfectly clear, the haze illusion can in such a way be fully present however, outside the aircraft, additional meteorological haze will synergistically exacerbate the phenomenon.

Often not looking out the windshield much, this slowly forming windshield "haze" and the varying illusions it causes can be even worse for IMC pilots transitioning to VMC just prior to touchdown but, should be kept in mind at all times by any type of pilot.

Especially with the landing lights on, an artificially induced Haze Illusion often occurs and even runway edge lights can induce it or add to it, especially on dry dirt/sand/gravel airstrips that have been used recently and the narrower the runway, especially less than 50 feet wide, the more likely runway edge lights will induce Haze Illusion. The suspension of dust can last for many hours in no wind conditions and some wind may clear it or, just the right amount of wind will kick up enough to maintain the dust, particularly in the desert where all surrounding quadrants are constantly supplying light, desert-dry dust.

Not visible when doing a low, night over flight of these runways, the above phenomena can range from subtle through severe and, both Haze Illusion techniques and precautions are appropriate in any of these conditions, which will make the runway appear farther away than it actually is, due to the human eye focusing on infinity when in hazy conditions.

In a few new students, minimally experienced pilots, and non-night current pilots, I've also seen evidence of the landing light BEAM ITSELF causing haze illusion effects in perfectly CLEAR, recently rain-washed air with no vapor. Each and every landing should always be approached on a case by case basis, and I prefer to prepare and practice for the unexpected so it is less surprising when non-standard conditions appear in flight.

Note on in-flight night, pre-landing assessment:

Even though a precautionary over flight at pattern altitude reveals no dust haze, a cautious and properly executed low pass down the runway may do so. However, even if there was no fine dust haze on the first low pass, there may be some on subsequent low passes simply from the aircraft's slipstream kicking up a little dust, especially off bushes and trees with their large surface areas extending up into airspace, well covered with settled dust.

Haze illusion hazards can occur in completely sand free but vegetated areas as well -from pollen. It doesn't take much dust at all of any kind! Plus, an initial illusion-free night landing may be followed by subsequent landings increasingly in the effects of haze illusion, dictating possible changes in flare for each landing.

Hot, desert dry nights will add a DA factor although even when cold, dry environments can still yield plenty of dirt dust or pollen, plus variable amounts of smoke from forest fires, camp fires, homes and other sources that can sometimes be a significant factor. In one extended case I observed substantial smoke haze from 4 separate forest fires surrounding my base airport for 6 weeks thick enough, so that at 3 PM in June, the air all around appeared sunset red, and the night hawk's were thrown off their solar biorythms to pursue their aerial feeding 6 hours early each day.

 

[wabower]

I didn't miss it, you didn't understand it. And still don't.

And I said that in post #17, but Wayne seems to have missed it.