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Night Flying Tips
Any general tips on night flying?
Haven't flown at night in over a year, and I need to go up tonight and get current, and do a cross country. |
#2
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"BoDEAN" wrote in message Any general tips on night flying? Haven't flown at night in over a year, and I need to go up tonight and get current, and do a cross country. Any chance of bringing along someone who's night current? Your perceptions may be a little rusty. |
#3
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I try very hard (not always successful) never to fly a route at
night that I haven't flown in daylight. As for carrying someone along who is night current -- unless they're CFI or Commercial, isn't that the point? To get current to carry passengers? If CFI or Commercial, then they could be considered the PIC and you're the passenger so it's legal. Can't find my FAR right now, this is all from memory... And there are times I'm convinced that senility set in with puberty |
#4
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"BoDEAN" wrote in message
... Any general tips on night flying? Haven't flown at night in over a year, and I need to go up tonight and get current, and do a cross country. Read up on the various optical illusions that occur more easily at night. Remember that night navigation is much more dependent on radio navigation; you need a LOT of familiarity with the route of flight *and* have excellent lighted landmarks to navigate without radios. A full moon (like we have now) helps, if there's no cloud cover, but the radios are still important. Likewise, there may be phases of your flight where the outside references are not visible, and you will have to rely on the instruments to keep the airplane right side up. Just after takeoff is a common point in time, with the nose high, to not have much in the way of visible outside references. Remember that your first (and maybe only) indication of obstructions to flight, terrain or clouds or otherwise, may be that lights on the ground become obscured. The occasional twinkle in a remote area is probably just trees near the light blocking the light, but if large swaths of lights become obscured at once, there's probably a hill or cloud between you and the lights. If you are flying toward the lights that disappeared, this is a problem. Fly the VASI. Pete |
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"Blanche" wrote in message
... As for carrying someone along who is night current -- unless they're CFI or Commercial, isn't that the point? To get current to carry passengers? If CFI or Commercial, then they could be considered the PIC and you're the passenger so it's legal. If the other pilot is acting as pilot in command, there is no problem bringing them along. They do not need to be a CFI or hold a Commercial Pilot certificate in order to act as pilot in command. They simply need to meet the same "acting PIC" requirements that any other pilot would for carrying passengers (since the pilot manipulating the controls would be a passenger). Pete |
#6
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BoDEAN wrote in message . ..
Any general tips on night flying? Haven't flown at night in over a year, and I need to go up tonight and get current, and do a cross country. Do a few landings at your home base before taking off X-C. It's a lot easier to knock off the rust if you're familiar with the airport and surround terrain. John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180) |
#7
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If this is a VFR flight, pay special attention to the weather...
including the temperature /dewpoint spread. As others have already said, a cloudless, full moon night makes things less risky. Expect things to go wrong. Think up some emergency scenarios and have a plan of action so that you'll know what to do before you ever leave the ground. Set some personal minimums for weather and fuel that are more stringent than for a day vfr flight. Do not exceed them. Perform a thorough pre-flight including all aircraft lighting. Pack at least one flashlight with good batteries. Doing some instrument training with an instructor can be a life saver. Make sure your cockpit is organized. Joe Schneider 8437R "BoDEAN" wrote in message ... Any general tips on night flying? Haven't flown at night in over a year, and I need to go up tonight and get current, and do a cross country. |
#8
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BoDEAN writes:
Any general tips on night flying? Haven't flown at night in over a year, and I need to go up tonight and get current, and do a cross country. You'll get this too late. But when I haven't flown at night for a while, I'll start doing full-stop takeoffs and landings at dusk. It's easier to adjust to night when it happens gradually. |
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