Wow, what an eye opener! Last night I completed 1.4 hours of my 3-hour night flight-training requirement for the private certificate, single-engine rating, with First Landings Aviation CFI Chris Esposito. I shot 8 full-stop landings in the Remos GX, leaving the last two of the 10 required for my dual cross-country night flight. All I can say is: What a different world than day VFR flight. That should seem obvious to anyone, but until I actually experienced it, I didn’t realize how different it would be and that reading about it in the prep books doesn’t do it justice.
The conditions offered 10 miles viz and a 30- to 40-degree 7- to 10-knot crosswind. Here are just few of my observations:
* Not being able to see the windsock on downwind for final confirmation against the AWOS info was a bit disconcerting. Adjusted by listening to AWOS more frequently.
* Not having a visible centerline on approach made it difficult for me to nail it.
* It was challenging to judge the ground distance on short final. I tended to flare for the landing a little too high, instead of closer to the ground. Strict attention to the precision approach pat indicator lights can keep this from happening. Confession: This made me realize I was defaulting to my day VFR tactics, where I tend to subconsciously rely more on my visual judgment more than the PAPI lights, so this was a great awareness exercise.
* Heavier reliance on the instruments/heading. By the time we finished seven of the landings at another airport and it was time to head back to home base, I was pretty fatigued. As a result, when leaving the pattern I initially became disoriented. Where’s that big lake that serves as my main reference point that I use to locate my airport?! What would have been a no-brainer case of pilotage in day VFR, became a challenge requiring vigilant attention to the heading indicator and GPS.
* Spotting air traffic was easy! And we did have some, both in the pattern and the vicinity.
I would love to hear how other student pilots or sport pilots training for the private would describe their first night flight experience … in the meantime, check out the video of my last landing for the night.
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Submitted by FirstFlightMike on November 09, 2011.
Looks like you nailed the last one, fatigue or no. Good job, Connie.
My flight training was interrupted by a year (very sad), so I'm looking forward to re-doing the night flights and landings.
However, my first my solo cross-country is tomorrow! Wish me luck.
Best,
-Mike
Submitted by brubey on November 10, 2011.
Fine job Connie.
Yep, night makes for a whole new set of experiences and techniques. By now you have realized that the lakes are the dark spots. Don't land in the dark spots.
When I was building time and gathering licenses and flying out of Herndon, now Orlando Executive, I did a lot of night flying and often flew down to Kissimmee for a few landings. Orlando was a lot less populated in 1960, so most airports were considerably easier to locate, even at night.
Enjoy that night work, it has advantages. It is cooler at night. There is less traffic at night and what there is is a lot easier to spot. And you will be eminently qualified to apply to a night freight outfit, should the desire ever come upon you join the exalted ranks of Freight Dogs who ply the night, every night.
All the best,
Burr
Submitted by cwhite on November 10, 2011.
Mike and Burr, thanks for the comments. Mike, great you're back at it and good luck on your crosscountry. Keep us posted on how it went. Burr, yes, dark spots are the unkown, aren't they? And I would hate to have to make an emergency off-aiport landing at night, especially in an unfamiliar area...lighted roads best option it would seem.
Connie
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