Ease into night flying

The end of daylight saving time (at 2 a.m. local time on November 1) abruptly hastens the arrival of night, which, for pilots, happens in stages following sunset and preceding sunrise. Civil twilight extends the aeronautical "day" after the sun dips below the horizon, and leads into the following sunrise.

Definitions of night

The FAA defines "night" 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," according to FAR 1.1 "General Definitions." This is the definition you use to differentiate day and night hours in your logbook.

However, the FAA has different requirements for times that count for carrying passengers and illuminating the airplane. In order to carry passengers from one hour after sunset to one hour before sunrise, you must have made at least three takeoffs and full-stop landings during that same period within the preceding 90 days, according to FAR 61.57 "Recent flight experience: Pilot in command." You must have been the sole manipulator of the controls and performed them in the same category, class, and type of aircraft as what you will use to carry passengers. The agency requires aircraft navigation lights to be on from sunset to sunrise, according to FAR 91.209 "Aircraft lights."

Commit these different definitions of "night" and associated requirements to memory to save yourself from having to research them every time you plan to fly at night.

Transitioning to night flying

Because many visual cues are removed or can be distorted at night, it's a good idea to ease into night flying during your flight training and after you have your pilot certificate if it has been a while since you have flown at night.

Flight instructors often will introduce their students to night flying by going up at sunset and transitioning to night in the air. This can be a helpful practice to continue after earning your certificate because it allows you to slowly acclimate to the reduction in natural light. If you are practicing landings during this time frame, you will notice how runway cues slowly start to fade away, eventually leaving you with lights lining a dark rectangle until you are close enough to the ground for your landing light to illuminate runway markings.

If you will be going up after it is fully dark, start by staying in the traffic pattern or flying locally around familiar areas while you get used to referring to your flight instruments more often to help provide orientation information. You’ll notice landings might be more difficult, particularly judging the flare. The Airplane Flying Handbook offers a rule of thumb in Chapter 11 that works beautifully: "At night, the judgment of height, speed, and sink rate is impaired by the scarcity of observable objects in the landing area. An inexperienced pilot may have a tendency to round out too high. Continuing a constant approach descent until the landing lights reflect on the runway and tire marks on the runway can be seen clearly helps identify the point to begin the round out. At this point, the round out is started smoothly and the throttle gradually reduced to idle as the airplane is touching down." Rounding out when you see the tire marks on the runway will work every time.

If you plan to fly a night cross-country, go during a full moon. The brightness of the moon will allow you to see some ground features, helping you maintain better orientation. During your planning, look at the aeronautical chart and pretend that the only things you will see are the yellow blotches that denote cities. This will help you select checkpoints you can actually see, and pick airports with lighted, identifiable features nearby. Use large cities as checkpoints and avoid flying long distances over remote terrain such as mountains. One flight instructor urged his students not to fly over the Appalachian Mountains without an instrument rating because of the lack of ground lighting.

Beware of illusions

Your eyes don't see as well at night as during the day. In addition, pilots can be particularly susceptible to visual illusions at night because many of the visual cues you use during the day are removed. “Visual illusions are especially hazardous because pilots rely on their eyes for correct information,” the Airplane Flying Handbook states. "Darkness or low visibility increases pilot susceptibility to error."

Two visual illusions are false horizon and autokinesis. False horizon is an illusion in which it can be difficult to find the correct horizon because city lights might look like stars. Autokinesis can happen if you stare at a stationary light for too long—it will appear to start moving. This could be problematic if you align the aircraft based on that apparent movement.

Two ground illusions are featureless terrain and ground lighting. Black-hole approach is a dangerous illusion that can occur “when the landing is made from over water or non-lighted terrain where the runway lights are the only source of light,” according to the Airplane Flying Handbook. The runway could appear to slope downward or upward and could lead you to misjudge the touchdown. It is important to use the runway's visual approach slope indicator if it has one or on-board navigation aids and flight instruments to help you locate the runway.

If you are flying toward bright runway lights with little lighting for surrounding terrain, you might feel lower and closer than you really are, causing you to fly a higher approach. Runways with dim lighting might appear to be farther away than they really are, causing you to fly a lower approach than you typically would. Again, use the runway glideslope indicator lights and on-board instruments to verify your aircraft position on the approach.

Lights on the ground, such as highways or lighted trains, can be mistaken for runway approach lights. Always look for an associated rotating airport beacon to help you identify the correct runway environment.

Being aware of the potential for these illusions will help you be on guard, and several techniques will help you further mitigate their risks. When planning your flight, look at the aeronautical chart to see if you will be approaching over water or other dark, featureless terrain. If you will, consider another airport that might have a city nearby that could help with orientation. Also, approach over the airport above pattern altitude to get a good look at the layout of the runway and then enter the traffic pattern. If you are ever in doubt during the approach, the Airplane Flying Handbook recommends performing a go-around.

With proper training and planning, you can safely ease your way into the magic of night flying.