Up At Night

Night flying can be the most rewarding kind available to mere mortals. Twinkling stars above, perhaps a full moon in close formation, and well-lit ground features can be wondrous. Too, the air generally is smoother and theres less traffic. The frequency is quieter and ATC can give you more attention, while what traffic there is can be easier to spot. And an aircraft will perform better in cooler air. Humans will, too, but thats about the only benefit we realize at night.

Joseph E. (Jeb) Burnside

Friday, September 25, 2015 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Night flying offers rewarding experiences like smoother air and less traffic, but presents significant challenges due to human eyes' limited night vision and the darkness obscuring obstacles.
Pilots can compensate for poor night vision by allowing their eyes to adapt to darkness (e.g., minimizing cockpit lights) and by using off-center scanning techniques to better utilize light-sensitive rods.
To avoid unseen obstacles and terrain, especially in terminal areas, pilots should thoroughly study instrument and terminal charts pre-flight to identify charted obstacles and ensure safe altitudes.

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Night flying can be the most rewarding kind available to mere mortals. Twinkling stars above, perhaps a full moon in close formation, and well-lit ground features can be wondrous. Too, the air generally is smoother and there’s less traffic. The frequency is quieter and ATC can give you more attention, while what traffic there is can be easier to spot. And an aircraft will perform better in cooler air. Humans will, too, but that’s about the only benefit we realize at night.

In fact, our eyes play tricks on us at night. And there’s the simple fact that it’s dark out, and darkness tends to hide various objects from us, like poor weather, mountain ridges and other things we don’t want to fly into. Understanding how the human eye is affected when it’s dark and then compensating for the condition, plus adopting some common-sense practices for avoiding things that we can bump into at night, will help make our flying easier, safer and more enjoyable.