Then I recall it took exactly "one point twenty-one jigowatts" of juice in the flux capacitor to send Dr. Emmett Brown's modified DeLorean sports car Back to the Future. And while that always sounded like an enormous amount of power to me, my eyes and my intuition tell me there's much more power below me now than in 10 flux capacitors combined.
A pilot's panoramic view of Los Angeles at night (or any big city, for that matter) is absolutely brilliant, and I feel privileged to be one of the few to behold its grandeur.
That sense of privilege is just one of the many reasons we fly at night, but there are many more: The air is generally smoother, there's usually less traffic to contend with, and for the most part, it's quite peaceful. For these reasons and others, night flying can be quite enjoyable. But before you climb aboard your trusty trainer and take to the skies after the sun slips below the horizon, here are a few things to consider that just might help to keep you "out of the dark."
Lights!
Any flight should be well planned, but a night flight entails a little more planning and preparation than a day flight. Some items that might be inconsequential on a day flight could become crucial on a night flight. Lights, for example. There are two sets of lights you want to check long before you make your night flight. The first is the airplane's lighting equipment; the second is your personal lighting equipment.
Preferably, the airplane's lights should be checked the day before, or at the latest, the day of your night flight to ensure they are operating properly. This will give maintenance personnel time to correct any discrepancies that you may find. You should check the operation of the airplane's position or nav lights (the red, green, and white lights located on the left wingtip, right wingtip, and tail, respectively) and anticollision light system (strobe lights or rotating beacon). The airplane's position and anticollision lights (if installed) are required to be on for night flights by Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) 91.209.
The airplane's taxi, landing, and instrument and cockpit lights should also be checked. There's nothing more frustrating than discovering a burned-out bulb the night of your flight. Pay special attention to the instrument and cockpit lights; they're often left on inadvertently in trainers and burn out more frequently as a result.
Check your own personal lights as well. A white flashlight is indispensable for preflight inspection duties, and a red light is preferable for use inside the cockpit because it won't impair your night vision. One caveat with using a red light to read aeronautical charts is that the red features of the chart won't show up. For example, under red light, a magenta nontowered airport symbol and a blue towered airport symbol both appear the same shade of grey. How many flashlights do you need? Many pilots prefer to carry three or more, plus plenty of batteries, just in case the one in use flickers out at a crucial time.
These days, finding ideal backup cockpit lighting couldn't be easier. A wide variety of aviation-specific flashlights are available; one popular aviation catalog features a dozen different models. Along with traditional flashlights, there are combination white/red LED lights, lights that clip to your seatbelt, and lights that clip to your baseball cap. There's another that's mounted on an elastic headband, and another that hangs around your neck.
Navigation
As for any flight, you'll need to plan your navigation. You could take the easy way out and fly direct using a GPS (global positioning system), or, if you're more of the sporting type, you could just fly IFR (in this case, meaning "I follow roads," not "instrument flight rules").
Seriously, if there is a main highway or road along your route of flight, following it might be a perfect way to navigate from your departure to destination airports. For example, if you want to fly from Los Angeles to Las Vegas at night, just follow Interstate 15 until you pick up the glow of the strip. Flying from Salina, Kansas, to Kansas City, Missouri? Keep I-70 off your left and you can't go wrong.
Naturally, you'll want to back up your highway navigation with checkpoints. Lighted airports make great checkpoints for night flights because they normally have airport rotating beacons. These rotating beacons are to aircraft what lighthouses are to watercraft--they are visual navigation aids designed to help pilots locate airports at night. At civilian airports the beacons produce alternating white and green flashes. At military airports the beacons provide two quick white flashes between the green flashes. What's truly amazing is that on a clear, dark night, airport beacons can literally be seen for miles.
Cities and towns make great checkpoints at night, especially if they have unusual or unique shapes. Called "Populated Places Outlined" in the Aeronautical Chart User's Guide (available on AOPA Flight Training Online), they appear as yellow areas on terminal, sectional, and world aeronautical charts. Many unique shapes exist; there are triangles, squares, rectangles, stair step, and scalloped shapes. Their distinctive outlines are easier to make out from the perspective of a higher altitude.
Navigating by reference to roads, airport beacons, and cities is called pilotage. It is simply navigation by visual reference to landmarks, and it can be used at night as easily as during the day.
Altitude
At night, the overriding factor when selecting a cruise altitude is usually terrain. If you live in an area with mountains or high terrain, make absolutely sure that you'll clear (by a safe margin) the tops of any hills or mountains along your route at your planned cruise altitude. Look closely at your chart for towers along your route of flight--there are a lot of tall ones--and remember that not all towers are lit at night.
You'll also need to select an altitude that complies with FAR 91.119, Minimum Safe Altitudes. Regardless of whether you're flying during the day or at night, this regulation states that you may not operate an aircraft below "an altitude allowing, if a power unit fails, an emergency landing without undue hazard to persons or property on the surface."
For single-engine aircraft operated at night, this regulation takes on a special meaning because it's very difficult to identify suitable off-airport landing sites in the dark. The safest course of action would be to always fly at an altitude that will allow you to glide to a suitable lighted airport should an engine failure occur; however, this is not always possible. Consequently, you may choose to fly a less direct route in order to overfly additional airports and clear the terrain. These limitations are important topics for you and your instructor to discuss during your preflight preparation and contingency planning.
Fuel and notams
FAR 91.151 specifies that for night VFR flight in an airplane, you need to carry enough fuel to fly to your destination (considering wind and forecast weather conditions) and then, assuming normal cruising speed, to fly after that for at least 45 minutes. Keep in mind that the regulations establish only minimums, and just because it's legal doesn't necessarily mean it's safe. Best practices dictate that you double this amount and carry a reserve of at least 90 minutes, or an hour and a half.
No night flight planning would be complete without a thorough check of pertinent notices to airmen (notams). You should be especially alert for any airport lighting information, navaid outages, or airport and runway closures--not only for your departure and destination airports, but also for any airports along your route that could be used for emergency landings.
Night ops
In general, night flying is very different from day flying. Because of the limited outside visual references, you'll be referring to flight instruments more to help control the airplane.
For example, during night takeoffs, even though the mechanics are the same (i.e., clear the runway, line up in position, add power, rotate, and climb out), reduced visual cues require that you cross-check the flight instruments to verify the airplane's pitch, bank, and heading. On climbout, you should scan the attitude indicator to ensure the airplane is at the proper climb pitch attitude, with wings level. The airspeed indicator should be checked for the proper climb airspeed and trend information. If the airspeed is increasing, the pitch attitude could be too low. If the airspeed is decreasing, the pitch attitude could be too high and a stall may develop. The altimeter, vertical speed indicator, and heading indicator should also be cross-checked to confirm the airplane is climbing straight ahead. Takeoffs and climbs toward bodies of water or other unlighted, featureless terrain are particularly challenging. Once the proper climb pitch attitude is established and airspeed stabilized, trim to relieve elevator pressure and help hold the climb pitch attitude.
Cruise
Cruising at night presents no special challenges. Besides looking for traffic (easy to spot at night), it's just the usual routine of housekeeping and monitoring chores. You keep track of the progress of the flight with your nav log, and monitor the health of your aircraft's engine and systems. You should be scanning the oil temperature and oil pressure gauges and the tachometer for normal indications, noting any drop in rpm, which could signal carburetor ice (if the engine is normally aspirated). The vacuum gauge shows the health of the vacuum system (which may power the attitude indicator). The electrical system should also be periodically checked for normal indications by monitoring the ammeter and/or voltmeter. If your airplane relies solely on an electrical system for instrument indications--perhaps it's one of the newer trainers with a primary flight display and multifunction display--you also want to consider the state of the batteries and/or standby alternator.
Once aloft and settled into your flight, another item you'll want to monitor closely is the weather, because at night it's harder to see and avoid clouds and restrictions to visibility like fog, haze, or even light rain. Beware of ground lights that start to glow or develop a "halo" around them, as this could indicate you're flying into an area of reduced visibility. Also, keep track of temperature and dew point spreads along your route. When the difference between the surface temperature and the dew point is within 4 degrees, you should be on the alert for the formation of fog and low clouds--especially if the spread is decreasing.
Approach and landing
With limited visual references, night approaches can be a little bit tricky. You and your instructor should thoroughly discuss the phenomenon known as the black hole approach (see "Bottomless Pit," October 2003 AOPA Flight Training). A black-hole approach occurs when a landing is made from over featureless, unlighted terrain--such as water, desert, or farmland--and the runway lights are the only source of light. Without peripheral visual cues to help, pilots have trouble judging distance from and height above the airport, and descent angle, speed, and closure rates to the runway. In addition, the runway can seem too small or out of position (downsloping or upsloping).
Use the concept of a stabilized approach to combat these illusions. You should be lined up for the runway, on target airspeed, on glide path, and fully configured for landing (flaps and gear down, propeller at high rpm) no lower than 500 feet above the airport elevation. Careful attention should be given to the flight instruments to assist in maintaining a normal approach. If at any time you're unsure about your position or attitude, execute a go-around.
Take advantage of any available vertical guidance, even if that means flying all the way around to the opposite runway. Following vertical guidance at night is critical; this cannot be stressed enough. This guidance can be a simple visual aid, such as a visual approach slope indicator (VASI) or precision approach path indicator (PAPI), or an electronic aid such as the glideslope signal of an instrument landing system (ILS).
Lastly, be prepared for the possibility of low-level wind shear on your night approach. A weather phenomenon called airmass wind shear can occur at night under fair weather conditions. It develops under clear skies when the ground radiates its heat away and becomes cooler than the overlying air above it. If the cooling is strong enough, it sets up a ground-based surface inversion (cool air below, warm air above) a few hundred feet thick. Winds above the inversion can be strong and slide smoothly across the top, while air below the inversion is usually calm.
Night emergencies
With today's reliable airframes, engines, and avionics, actual night emergencies are extremely rare. You're much more likely to encounter an abnormal situation, like a radio failure. But once in blue moon, real emergencies do occur. If you're confronted with a problem, first decide if it's an actual emergency or just an abnormal situation. For example, if you lose your cockpit lights--or, for that matter, your entire electrical system--at worst you'll illuminate your flight instruments with your flashlight and then descend and land without a landing light. Even with a complete electrical system failure, your engine will still run, the magnetos will still spark, and the airspeed indicator and altimeter will still work, so don't make a mountain out a molehill.
An engine failure, on the other hand, is an emergency. The procedure is the same at night as it is during the day: Trim for best glide speed, turn the airplane toward an airport or landing site, advise air traffic control, and run through the appropriate checklist. The problem is complicated by the decision of where to land. Your first choice is a lighted airport, followed by an off-airport site. This is why it's so important to always fly at a minimum safe altitude and keep track of potential landing sites throughout your flight. Remember the old Boy Scout motto: Be prepared. Have a good plan before you find yourself in a bad situation.
Stars above
Flying at night presents new challenges, new opportunities to learn, and new opportunities to expand your piloting experience. Planning a night flight covers familiar ground, but also forces you to rethink some familiar concepts. With the stars above and the city lights below, flying at night offers the privileged few an unparalleled show--one that is well worth the price of admission.
Christopher L. Parker is a CFI and an aviation author, speaker, and FAA remedial training specialist. He is director of aviation and chief pilot for a California corporation operating a Bombardier Challenger business jet worldwide.
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