Night Flying

"Fred Choate" wrote in message
...
Hey Folks....

I go outside after dark a lot, usually to enjoy the outside air. Last
night I realized that I don't generally see a lot of GA at night in my
area. I am curious as to the feeling of this group on flying at night. I
am talking about VFR.
-- -------------------------------reply---------------------------------------------------

Hello Fred and Everyone,

Greetings from hurricane central! It's pretty peaceful right now (1611Z) as
the wind has not increased considerably. A Cat 4 hurricane is a dangerous
thing but preparedness has been the key.

I'm a volunteer with the Civil Air Patrol and often get calls at night to
fly a mission that may take me on a cross-country over several hundred
miles. The preparation time for these flights can range from a call in the
middle of the night to a mission base with multiple sorties. Last night was
one of those middle of the night calls. Departing from Gulf Shores at 2:30
AM, I flew to Montgomery to pick-up equipment and personnel and provide
evacuation flow reports to the Emergency Operations Center to be used in
briefing the officials. It's a tad over an hour up there. Now, if you
don't know how much a tad is, you probably can't measure a smidge either.
Forget about a cat-angle. The sight of cars bumper to bumper for as far as
you can see in either direction on Interstate 10 was impressive, and this
was at 3 AM!

It is important to make a distinction between current and proficient. Get a
friend who is proficient in night flying and make a trip, hundred dollar
hamburger and all that. The controllers are usually not as busy and will
often chat....I rub it in to them that I'm up here and they're not. A call
to Flight Watch is always good for a friendly voice in the night.

See you on the net after the storm passes.


Stephen F. Pearce
Foley, Alabama