Night Flying

Date

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Article

| March 27, 2025

Laser strikes persist

The FAA continues to encourage pilots to report laser strikes, and prosecutors continue to charge individuals with a crime punishable by up to five years in federal prison.

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Flight Training Magazine

| October 22, 2024

Night falls

Flying at night presents additional challenges for pilots, but also rewards.

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Training Tips

| October 8, 2024

Night falls

Flying at night presents additional challenges for pilots, but also rewards.

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Flight Training Magazine

| February 22, 2024

Flight Lesson: Into the clouds

By Brian Delamer

It was a beautiful day for a quick flight over to Maui for dinner. A nice, clear afternoon for a flight from Honolulu International (HNL) to Kahului (HOG).

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Pilot Magazine

| February 22, 2024

Scud running the Hudson

By Ben Moses

It was a clear and beautiful Friday night in May as a work colleague and I lifted off Teterboro’s Runway 1 for a short trip to Schenectady, New York, his home.

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Article

| February 5, 2024

The pilot of a Beechcraft V35B Bonanza reported “I’m losing engine” 45 seconds before another pilot on the same frequency told air traffic control that the Bonanza had hurtled into a tight cluster of homes in Clearwater, Florida, at 7:06 p.m. Eastern time on February 1.

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Training Tips

| November 17, 2023

A lack of light

Night flying can be beautiful and peaceful. Like a portal to an unknown world, cruising along on a smooth night with a full sky of stars and a quiet radio frequency is a place only pilots get to know or experience. Unfortunately, that peaceful vibe contains numerous increased risks that must be respected before we can relax and enjoy the view.

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Early Analysis

| May 1, 2023

Early Analysis: Black Hole Departure in Venice, FL

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Pilot Magazine

| December 28, 2022

Power line predicament

A Mooney M20J pilot prepared his return to Montgomery County Airpark (GAI) in Maryland from White Plains, New York, the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

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Video

| December 20, 2022

Early Analysis: Mysterious crash

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Flight Training Magazine

| December 13, 2022

Don’t be afraid of the dark

Love it or hate it, night flying and night landings are necessities to achieve your private pilot certificate. Here are some factors to consider and tips to make your night flying safe and fun.

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Video

| December 1, 2022

Early Analysis: Power Line Strike on Final Approach to Montgomery County Airpark

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Training Tips

| December 13, 2021

Public safety spotlighted in effort to curb aircraft laser strikes

The pilot of a single-engine air taxi aircraft on a night final approach to Runway 30 at the destination airport was temporarily blinded after being hit by a flash of green light.

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Article

| March 15, 2021

Get ready for night flight

A flight instructor once told me that a pilot will never have more technical knowledge than they do on the day they pass their checkride. Remote pilots do not have a practical test to pass, but the principle of the “forgetting curve” still applies, and the clock starts ticking as soon as you stop active learning. There’s a solution for that: Keep learning.

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Flight Training Magazine

| November 1, 2020

After the Checkride: Night flying

For many people, the full impact of the switch back to standard time doesn’t register until they step outside at the end of a workday to find the sky dark and streetlights blazing.

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Article

| April 14, 2020

What went wrong? Into the darkness

Night flying can be spectacular. Stars and perhaps a moon hung above, a mix of towns and city lights spread below—shining up through the darkness—can take your breath away. There’s typically less traffic, and therefore less radio chatter.

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Flight Training Magazine

| January 1, 2019

It's dark out there

Michael Berkley, a student pilot from Newburgh, New York, couldn’t wait to fly at night. But just a few minutes after his first takeoff, he started to panic. “It was a dark night and my local airport is secluded. I didn’t think much about it during the day. But it disappeared so quickly that night that I felt like I was flying in a black hole. I couldn’t see anything other than some random lights for miles. I felt completely lost. I tried to calm down, but I was completely frozen,” Berkley said. His instructor took control of the airplane and flew the traffic pattern as Berkley cleared his head. Then, Berkley took back the controls and as his nerves settled down and his vision adjusted to the darkness, he was able to complete his lesson.

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Article

| November 26, 2018

Award-winning instructor offers night flying tips

“Night is one of the most delightful times to fly,” said Zoan Harclerode, AOPA Flight Training Experience Award National Best Flight Instructor for 2017. “Everything seems to calm down” as the sun sets.

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Article

| November 1, 2017

Absolutely the best worst night landing ever

At the end of a long-ago day of flight instructing and taking summer tourists on scenic flights around Acadia National Park, I had to bring one of our flight school’s Cessna 172s from the nontowered Hancock County-Bar Harbor (Maine) Airport to the towered Bangor International Airport. A student pilot was coming with me, so of course when I said, “Take a seat,” you can guess which seat he took.

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TRAINING & SAFETY

Night Flying

You Can Fly !

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You Can Fly!

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Night Flying

Sponsored by Aircraft Spruce Training and Safety Tip: A good night’s flight

Sponsored by Aircraft Spruce Training and Safety Tip: Shedding light on defining night

Sponsored by Aircraft Spruce Training Tip: A dark runway rising

Sponsored by Aircraft Spruce Training Tip: Grading the quiz

Sponsored by Aircraft Spruce Training Tip: When eyes tell lies

Sponsored by Aircraft Spruce Training Tip: Cold moon flying

Sponsored by Aircraft Spruce Training Tip: The biggest bump

Sponsored by Aircraft Spruce Training Tip: Down to the wire

Sponsored by Aircraft Spruce Training Tip: CFIT in the dark

Sponsored by Aircraft Spruce Training Tip: Aviation's twilight zone

Sponsored by Aircraft Spruce Training Tip: What could go wrong?

You Can Fly !

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You Can Fly!

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