Training and Proficiency What A CFI Wants You To Know

Getting the Most Out of Time Change Flying

End of daylight saving time offers an opportunity for night flying before the onslaught of the worst of winter weather.

Tuesday, November 05, 2024 at 11:40 AM ET

Verified

According to the FAA, night is defined as the “time between the end of evening civil twilight and the beginning of morning civil twilight, as published in the Air Almanac, converted to local time.” [Courtesy: Meg Godlewski]

Key Takeaways:

The end of daylight saving time offers an opportune window for flight students to complete required night flying hours and meet specific certification requirements (e.g., 3 hours, 10 T/L, 100nm cross-country) before winter weather makes it more challenging.
Successful night VFR operations necessitate adherence to FAA definitions of "night" and prioritize safety, including the critical use of colored cockpit lighting (red, green, amber) to preserve night vision.
Due to limited visual cues, pilots must pay heightened attention to weather forecasts (especially for fog) and proficiently use navigation aids like GPS and VORs; having instrument-equipped aircraft and IFR proficiency is highly recommended for contingency planning.

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Are you night current? This question is being asked a lot at flight schools this week in states where daylight saving time ends.

With night now falling “sooner,” it is easier for flight students to log those precious hours of night experience required for pilot certification. (In the summer months, you are often out past midnight.) This is why the savviest flight instructors will urge their private and commercial applicants to get their night flying done now before winter weather with low clouds, snow, and ice make that unwise.

Meg Godlewski

Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.