Do you fly at night?

[Vlad]

I have Day VFR machine that's why the answer is NO. As soon as I add necessary night equipment I will fly after dark.

[panhandler1956]

I haven't flown my RV at night, but I plan to do some local stuff. (I live in central Ohio so it's not like living near the Grand Canyon.)

I was up in an RV-4 at night about a year ago and the view from the canopy is striking.

I fly at night for work and don't think twice about risks, but that's in a Falcon 2000.

I don't plan to do any hard night X/C work in my RV, but I woudn't be opposed to leaving early or coming back a little late on occassion. I flew night in singles alot in training and when I was building time and even in my 20s, I thought about the risks if the engine stopped in certain areas.

Risk v Reward (everyone has their own ratio)

[Neal@F14]

Way back when I was a newly-minted PP-ASEL and bought my first plane (Cherokee 140) I used to fly at night a *lot*. I would routinely wait until well after dark and take off on a cross country flight to visit an airport where I'd never landed at night, but usually had been there in daylight before. Never had even the slightest issue outside of my landing light burned out one night after I already landed, but I had a spare and changed it on the ramp before taking off again. Then as I got older and more hours logged, I slowly tapered off on the night flying, and now it's pretty rare. I haven't even been night-current in over a year now.

All the old-timers around my airport have always had a saying about night flying... "Don't fly at night because the Boogerman comes out at night."

I guess I must slowly but surely be turning into one of those airport old timers now because I'm a lot more scared of the boogerman than I used to be.

[RV10inOz]

Not sure what an IFR rating has to do with it. I've logged more actual IMC than night, and IMC is definitely more work.

Well where I fly around, a night time departure is effectively IMC from the moment you rotate.

Spatial disorientation is serious stuff. The little bit of night you might do with a vfr ticket DOES NOT prepare you for "black as the inside of a cow" kind of nights.

Sound harsh? You betcha! I would not let any of my family or friends fly at night without an instrument rating.

[TSwezey]

I flew my RV at night same way way I flew it during the day, always keeping an out. Flying in the SE haze is worse than flying at night when it comes to spatial disorientation. Not IR but I have more than enough hood time and actual to take the test. Just got to get it done!
I like night flying. Taxiing is what scares me now.

[dmaib]

Originally Posted by TSwezey

Taxiing is what scares me now.

Oh yeah! I second that! Even though I correct to 20/20, there is no doubt that the old peepers just ain't what they used to be!

[Mile High Relic]

Originally Posted by RV10inOz

Well where I fly around, a night time departure is effectively IMC from the moment you rotate.

Spatial disorientation is serious stuff. The little bit of night you might do with a vfr ticket DOES NOT prepare you for "black as the inside of a cow" kind of nights.

Sound harsh? You betcha! I would not let any of my family or friends fly at night without an instrument rating.

I've never been inside a cow. There were a few display cows used for teaching at the Ag school at the U of Illinois that had "windows" on their sides (I kid not) but that probably isn't the kind of cow you are talking about.

Regardless, flying at night over populated areas isn't like IMC, IMO. I definitely agree with you for the middle of nowhere, but let me know if you feel the same way once you get to the Midwest in the US, where there are lights as far as the eye can see. There is a very nice horizon out there, weather permitting.

As for spotting other planes, I'll take night over IMC any day (pun intended).

[Bob Redman]

I have flown at night when paid to do so, and I had an IFR rating for much of my flying. Most of the time I have enjoyed flying at night, and occasionally I have been very relieved to have arrived at home base safely.

My RV-7 is fitted & approved for NVFR. But I do not plan to fly at night unless the benefit of doing so would be worth the extra risk, and I am unlikely to need to fly at night now than I have retired.

Regards

[gerrychuck]

I probably would begin a flight before dawn or complete a flight after dusk, as many here have said, but Transport Canada thinks otherwise and restricts me to day VFR due to colour vision deficiency. What can ya do...

[ArlingtonRV]

I like to fly at night over country I am familair with into and out of places I know well. I won't go to a new place for the first time at night. I would fly at night more often, but living in the Northwest it is just a hassle. In the summer it doesn't get dark until after 10:00 (past my bed time) and while it does get dark at 5:00 in the winter, it is also really, really cold on days that it is clear enough to fly at night.

I do, however, like to go out at night around the holidays and view all of the money that some people spend to light up their places of residence. I usually get a good chuckle, and an occasional "ooh", or "aah" moment.