Last week, we noted a post by written by Max Trescott for his Trends Aloft site about flying at night that was well worth reading given that winter is well underway and the days can be much shorter in the Northern latitudes. This week, Brian of Brian’s Flying blog has written a great post loaded with night flying tips that are a must read by any pilot who chooses to or inadvertently ends up flying in night time conditions.
Brian has organized his very detailed night flying tips into the following specific categories:
- Day(s) before: Night Flying
- Taxi: Night Flying
- Takeoff: Night Flying
- Cruise: Night Flying
- Landing: Night Flying
However, Brian’s general nighttime flying tips are probably the most important tips to remember and they are well worth repeating here as he simply wrote:
Know where your hills and antennas are. Avoid them. Leave the mountains for the daytime. Bright moon can help make things easier and more comfortable; it will light up the ground a bit. Also, stay near roads, cities, and lit up areas. Night time flying in dark areas counts as actual IFR, so stay away from that unless IFR rated.
In addition, Brian advises pilots to get some IFR training plus he suggested some additional night flying resources posted on the AOPA and AVweb websites.
Finally, Brian included a couple of good reasons why you should consider brushing up on your night flying skills: Several great photographs of Christmas holiday lights seen from above.