Night pattern work

lancie00

lancie00

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lancie00
I'm working towards my commercial so last night I flew to a little Class D 65 miles away to finish getting my night landings. I have to say, it's been a long time since I did that many landings at once. It was good to get some pattern work in. It was obvious that I needed that. The first couple laps looked very "lazy".

Also, I guess I understand why the FAA requires 10 night landings at a towered airport, but boy it seems silly. Last night there was only one other plane that departed between my landings. Other than that it was "5142S cleared for the option runway 30". I didn't hear from the controller again until I was on down wind for the next one.

Even so, it was still a nice flight. A good excuse to go fly. :)

Do you guys ever do much pattern work at night?
 
I fly pattern work at night in three TO and Landing increments to stay night current. I'm also working on Commercial and though I have dozens of night landings, my towered home airport is usually closed when I do night currency pattern work. I'll have to check logs to count night landings when tower is open.
 
Good luck on your commercial checkride. I’ve been told is is one of the most pleasant ones. I have all my prerequisites complete, and next week will polish up my maneuvers. Hopefully can checkride end of Dec or early Jan.
 
I don't pretend to know "why" the rules are the way they are. But with the number of people I know who are awful on the radio at towered fields, maybe a little more practice is a good idea.
 
I love night landings. It's usually like flying on rails, at least in the SE, where the winds die down after about 6-7PM.

When I did my commercial, I also just went and did all the 10 towered night landings at once. It's kind of a niche requirement IMO, as most towered fields are dead at night anyway, but not a big deal to fulfill.
 
I did the same for mine, rented the Comanche and flew to a Class D 50 miles away and knocked out 10 landings. 300 hours and I could only find 1 night landing solo at a towered airport in my logbook.
 
lancie00 said:
I'm working towards my commercial so last night I flew to a little Class D 65 miles away to finish getting my night landings. I have to say, it's been a long time since I did that many landings at once. It was good to get some pattern work in. It was obvious that I needed that. The first couple laps looked very "lazy".

Also, I guess I understand why the FAA requires 10 night landings at a towered airport, but boy it seems silly. Last night there was only one other plane that departed between my landings. Other than that it was "5142S cleared for the option runway 30". I didn't hear from the controller again until I was on down wind for the next one.

Even so, it was still a nice flight. A good excuse to go fly. :)

Do you guys ever do much pattern work at night?
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I do my pre-requisite 3 takeoffs and landings at night. It counts for day too, so it is a better investment.
 
texasclouds said:
The one I don't get is the 2hr day/ 2 hr night dual xc.
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I don’t know the actual reason for it, but given how quickly we develop bad habits, it’s probably a good idea to have a set of eyes on us at certain points.
 
I notice there is different language in the aeronautical experience regulation vs. night currency for carrying passengers. The latter makes it clear that "night" currency for carrying passengers has to be done an hour after sunset or an hour before sunrise, but for aeronautical experience it only states "night VFR". Can you assume that night in that case is based on civil twilight, not sunset?

61.129 - (Commercial aeronautical experience)
(ii) 5 hours in night VFR conditions with 10 takeoffs and 10 landings (with each landing involving a flight in the traffic pattern) at an airport with an operating control tower.
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61.57 - (Night currency for carrying passengers)
(b) Night takeoff and landing experience. (1) Except as provided in paragraph (e) of this section, no person may act as pilot in command of an aircraft carrying passengers during the period beginning 1 hour after sunset and ending 1 hour before sunrise, unless within the preceding 90 days that person has made at least three takeoffs and three landings to a full stop during the period beginning 1 hour after sunset and ending 1 hour before sunrise, and—
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midwestpa24 said:
I did the same for mine, rented the Comanche and flew to a Class D 50 miles away and knocked out 10 landings. 300 hours and I could only find 1 night landing solo at a towered airport in my logbook.
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Same with me. 250 hours since 1990 (I know, not much but I'm working on it) and I could only find 5 landings at towered airports at night.
 
lancie00 said:
Do those have to be dual? I don't see that in 61.129. Just that you have to have them.
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Yes, those have to be dual.

It's under section a-3. Everything there is dual.
 
Bonchie said:
Yes, those have to be dual.

It's under section a-3. Everything there is dual.
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Got it. Thanks!

I guess that means I have to find a CFI that wants me to buy them dinner.
 
After I had my deer strike, my night operations have been greatly limited, but I do enjoy flying on a nice calm night.
 
Cogito said:
Does this have to be recent or can I use my Private night dual for this requirement? I don't have the ACS at hand.
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U probably can double dip, but read the full req., I doubt you flew 100 mi straight line distance.
 
I finished off my night solo takeoff/landing requirements last night. I decided since I still needed to build a bunch of to time to 250, I did night cross counties to different D and C airports.

Yeah, I’m still not sure why the day/night dual cross country is required. Night maybe, but the day one is a head scratcher for sure.
 
texasclouds said:
U probably can double dip, but read the full req., I doubt you flew 100 mi straight line distance.
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When you are working on your ppl you aren’t PIC yet. Doesn’t that put the kibosh on it too?
 
snglecoil said:
I finished off my night solo takeoff/landing requirements last night. I decided since I still needed to build a bunch of to time to 250, I did night cross counties to different D and C airports.

Yeah, I’m still not sure why the day/night dual cross country is required. Night maybe, but the day one is a head scratcher for sure.
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Keep in mind not everyone burns thru ratings quickly. There are plenty of private/IFR guys out there that can't hold altitude or look out the window, run a VOR, etc..
 
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