I would have to check, but as I recall some sort of anti-collision light is an FAA requirement, it it not?
I would have to check, but as I recall some sort of anti-collision light is an FAA requirement, it it not?
Per FAR 91, you need the following for day VFR:
- Airspeed Indicator
- Altimeter
- Compass
- Tachometer
- Fuel Gauge
- Oil Temperature Gauge
- Oil Pressure Gauge
- Gear Indicator (if retractable)
- Manifold Pressure Gauge (if constant speed prop)
Night VFR adds the light requirements. Sport pilots cannot fly at night. Private pilots can fly LSAs at night if the plane is properly equipped.
--Bill
The reply from Van's sounds good enough for me. I like the fact that the lighting kit will be all inclusive. As far as having faith in Van's - we already have enough faith to be building a half an airplane, so what's the problem?![]()
Well, sort of.It's true that a sport pilot can't fly at night but night begins one hour after sunset and goes until one hour before sunrise.
An anti collision light is required between sunset and sunrise (if I remember correctly), so if a sport pilot wants two extra hours per day he needs an anti collision light.
Well, sort of.
Sport pilots cannot after or before civil twilight (i.e., the dark part of the day). Civil twilight is (IIRC) the time when the sun is six degrees below the horizon. Typically, twilight occurs 25 minutes before or after the sun rises / sets. The USNO has a nice online tool that will calculate civil twilight for the entire year. NB: The entire flight, including taxi, must be concluded by the end of civil twilight in the evening. Don't land right at civil twilight if you want to be in compliance with the FARs. I plan to be on the ground no more than 10 minutes after sunset and use the extra 15 minutes as a safety margin.
Now, on to "night". For the purpose of of logging landings for currency, "night" means one hour after until one hour before sunset/sunrise. However, tiome can be logged as "night" after sunset and before sunrise.
It seems as though lights would still provide a sport pilot with some additional flight time since I believe lights are required from sunset to sunrise.
But it sounds like a sport pilot still gains some legal flight time (technically) since I believe lights are required at sunset until sunrise.
In order to log "night" time, this is the period between civil twilight in the evening and morning.
In terms of requiring anti-collision lights at "night", that's sunset to sunrise.
TODR
Yes, I'd agree. From what I can tell, the strobes don't have to be certified, just approved by the LSA builder (for S-LSA or E-LSA).I stand corrected.
I had never looked in any level of detail at the sport pilot rules regarding night flight so I shouldn't have assumed it meant the period of time considered actual night flight.
So it sounds like lights still provide an additional 35 minutes after sunset and before sunrise.