Night Flying

Night rating is an add-on to the Private License. You need 5 hours night dual, 5 hours instrument dual and 5 hours solo. Currency requirements are 5 night landings and takeoffs in the past 6 months.

- know your lights and cockpit blindfolded
> taxi
> landing
> beacon
> strobe
> nav (memory aid: there is no red port left) / right is starboard, lights are blue blue
> - turn on landing during downwind check
> - turn off nav/strobe lights (can be distracting when landing)
> - turn off landing lights during climb check (engine, instruments, lights)
- ground seems higher than it actually is (rely on your instruments)
> look all over the airport to break tunnel vision
> look at runway rushing up / look down to the far end of runway
- when landing, you'll have a tendency to flare higher
- when on final, you seem faster than you actually are
- carry flashlight and a backup light
- rely on heading indicator to do circuits
> - 90/90/90 degrees (i.e. 260/170/080/260)
> - reset heading indicator every 15 min. (when straight and level / double check when you land)
- know light gun signals
> red and white lights: do not land for time being
> red flashing: continue circling / taxi out of runway in use
> red steady: do not land / stop taxi
> green flashing: return for landing / cleared to taxi
> green steady: cleared to land / cleared to takeoff
- know radio navigation
> VOR, ADF and DME
> know limitations (for ADF, you need to be close to the startion... 10 nm?)
> tune, identify and set bearing
- know to/from: always fly to the VOR heading
- if left/right, you need to turn left/right to intercept
> - each dot is 2 degrees, turn left/right to half of what it indicates to intercept
> varies as you get closer, don't chase the needle, small adjustments
> if it appears diagonal (i.e. 10'o clock to 3 o'clock as opposed to just left/right from 12'o clock), the heading you want to intercept is ahead of you (what if it is back?)

Landing (flaring)

Flaring (from my notes and the web)
- pitch airspeed; power to keep runway number same place in window
- somewhere on short final, loosen your hands and light touch on yoke
- ensure that you are not pushing nose up/down unncessarly
- break up tunnel vision by looking all over (intersections, side)
- then concentrate on final
- Look down to the far end of the runway after you flare
- SMALL corrections to FLARE
> BEST TIP of ALL TIME: slowly ease yoke back WHILE slowly easing the throttle back simutaniously
> see a very small amount of sink; look only for the sinking in distance view
> when you are sinking, add back pressure.
> If you are not sinking, or even rising, don't relax pressure, just hold steady to bleed airspeed
> As soon as you detect any sink, start adding back pressure until the sink stops
> if you are sinking fast. Put in just a touch of power to stop the sink
> think of yoke as string; you only pull and relax pressure / never push or the "string"
> visualize a window right at the end of the runway that you have to fly though at a specific airspeed
and altitude in a specific configuration.
> constantly changing dynamic with variables, airplane is talking to you and showing you where it IS and what it's doing as opposed to where you WANT IT TO BE and WHAT YOU WANT IT TO BE DOING!!!
> You know how the controls function. You know what will happen if you apply pressure to the controls
> constantly asking yourself.......is the airplane where I want it to be
> and if not what do I have to do to make it go there.....NOW!!!
> If the nose is in the wrong place...correct it! If you're too fast....slow it down
> if you're too high.....lose it........too low.....get it up a bit.
> Just put it through that window at the right place in the sky and at the right speed
> then concentrate on doing whatever it takes to assume a landing attitude.....then hold that attitude as the speed drops off......keep the damn thing straight....