Night Flying. How many PPSEL pilots excersie night priveledges?

Unless you are close enough to suitable landing terrain and know where
it is located there is little use in flying higher as you can't see
where you are going to land any way, but that depends on the terrain,
visibility, and availability of nearby airports.

That depends on how low you fly during the day, doesn't it? During
the day it's generally safe to fly below the tops of nearby terrain
since you can see it. At night this is somewhat less bright.

Also, additional altitude gives more time to troubleshoot and solve a
problem with the fan. It may take longer at night just because of the
visibility issues.

Jose
--
"There are 3 secrets to the perfect landing. Unfortunately, nobody knows
what they are." - (mike).
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

On Fri, 15 Dec 2006 09:39:21 -0500, Jose
wrote:

Unless you are close enough to suitable landing terrain and know where
it is located there is little use in flying higher as you can't see
where you are going to land any way, but that depends on the terrain,
visibility, and availability of nearby airports.

That depends on how low you fly during the day, doesn't it? During
the day it's generally safe to fly below the tops of nearby terrain
since you can see it. At night this is somewhat less bright.

Depends on where you are flying.

Around here you'd need a fair amount of gas just to get where you
could safely find a spot where you could fly below the tops of
surrounding terrain. Even flying *very* low over sparsely populated
areas I'd need to go about 60 miles to get that low without worrying
about hitting telephone lines and cell phone towers.

Also, additional altitude gives more time to troubleshoot and solve a
problem with the fan. It may take longer at night just because of the
visibility issues.

The only complete engine failure I've had was close to the ground as
in between 30 and 50 feet. I did the trouble shooting without ever
looking at the switches and valves. It didn't restart any way.
It had a blown diaphragm in the fuel distribution spider on top of the
engine.



Jose
Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

On Sat, 9 Dec 2006 10:40:50 -0800, wrote
(in article . com):

I have about 150 total hours now, but my only night flights were during
my training as required for certification.

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

How long does it take to comfortabley fly at night and how do those of
you that fly at night navigate in the dark?

Most flight instructors fly a fair amount at night, of course, but the wise
ones only do it under conditions of their choosing. Most of them become
extremely familiar with the local area or their particular favorite cross
country route. The Bay area would be much easier to navigate than, say, the
open desert because of the lights of the city and the distinctive patterns of
water and bridges.