With 900 hours, I have 200 at night, and have no hesitation about flying
at night. The most beautiful flights I've had were at night. One in
particular stands out - returning from the (SF) Bay area to the (LA)
Basin, heading for El Monte (EMT). We came across the Gorman Pass at
about four in the morning after flying at 11,500 feet over the desert,
and when we came over the mountains, the entire LA Basin was lit up
pretty much horizon to horizon on one of those rare "clear and infinity"
nights. I pitched down for a half hour descent right into the center of it.

It was an experience that cannot be reduced to words.

Do you just fly the altitudes that you fly during the day time to stay
safely from getting too close to anything?

I fly higher at night, making sure I have more than a thousand feet
clearance above anything within lots of miles (I generally use the
maximum elevation figures in the quadrants I'm flying through as a
guide). Daytime I'm happy to fly below towers, hills, and such, and
make sure I spot them as they go by. At night I won't go anywhere near
that low - it would be suicide. Altitude is your friend, as is flight
planning and situation awareness.

I fly in the Bay Area, CA I would love to see the beautiful scenery of
the city lights that night flying offers.

The Bay Area has lots of lights. Navigation is pretty easy. Beware of
the hills (easy to see; they are dark) because they have towers (not so
easy to see because even though they are supposed to be lighted, they
might not be and you don't want to be in the papers!)

Or I guess a better question is what techniques do you use at night to
navigate that are different then how you navigate during the day?

When flight planning, I use different landmarks at night. A lake in the
wilderness won't show up easily at night, but is great in the day. A
freeway is great at night, but may be easy to miss in the day. The
shapes of cities and towns is easy to see at night, as is air traffic.

Jose
--
"There are 3 secrets to the perfect landing. Unfortunately, nobody knows
what they are." - (mike).
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