Night Flying Tips From a Military Pilot
I gotta say, it still feels weird saying I am a military pilot, but I guess I need to better embrace what I am in a lot of aspects of life.
Anyways, after flying a couple of nights ago I thought it might be useful to mention some of the things I have learned about flying at night that may be useful to others who don’t do as much night flying.
One obvious difference between what we do in the Air Force and most, if not all, civilian flyers is that we use NVGs when we fly at night. We do still practice approaches and landings at night without them, but if we are doing low levels or airdrops at night, we always wear them.
If you ever get the opportunity to try some NVGs I would recommend trying them out on the ground because it is cool, but DO NOT try to fly with them unless you have been properly trained. There may be this idea that they make it almost like daytime, but that is not the case. They do dramatically improve your ability to see at night, but they also completely change your depth perception and how your straight ahead vision interacts with your peripheral vision since one is using NVGs and the other is not. Again, do not try and do anything with NVGs unless you have been trained.
So what are some things you can do to make flying at night more safe?
Physiologically, make sure you are well rested when flying at night. It can be easy to have a normal day and then head out to the airport to get some night flying done, but be very cognizant of how you feel physically. During the summer you may try to fly more in the evenings when it starts to cool down so you need to be honest with yourself about how tired you are. Especially if you are going out after the sun has set because it sets so much later in the summer.
Here in Arkansas right now it doesn’t really get dark until after nine o’clock so to get some night time in you have to stay up much later than in the winter when the sun sets around 5-6. If you typically stay up until midnight or later this may not be a big deal, but if you are an early to bed kind of person you need to be honest with yourself about how tired you are, and may want to consider an afternoon nap to give yourself a little more pep when the sun goes down.
It is also common to use some sort of stimulant like coffee or energy drinks to give you a little boost at night, but be careful with how much of that stuff you use. Too much can make you jittery and effect your night vision, which is obviously pretty important. There is also a chance of having that big drop off when the effects wear off, and you don’t need that late at night.
Next, it is really important to get to know the airport and area you will be flying in. Even if it is an airport you use regularly, it will look different at night than it does during the day. Having a clear picture in your mind of where you will be on the ground and what to look for in the air will help to alleviate some of the confusion that is inherent with flying at night. This is especially true when you are flying as the sun is setting because you will start to get strange shadows that can mess with your head in terms of depth perception and things looking unfamiliar.
For that reason I recommend getting night practice on a regular basis so that you add to your mental picture of how things look in all different light conditions. Three landings every 90 days is not enough to be safe flying at night. Now if you just choose not to fly at night at all, that is your decision, but you do miss out on some amazing sights and peace that can only be experienced at night. You also never know when you may need to fly at night and you don’t want to find yourself unprepared, and in turn, unsafe.
Part of getting to know your airport is learning the important altitudes around it. Outside of pattern altitudes, a lot of other altitudes seem to be more related to instrument flying, but as you will learn, there is a lot of crossover from night flying and instrument flying that will keep you safe.
Understanding what the highest obstruction to flight around your airport is can be vital information. There is so much peace of mind when you have an emergency of some sort in knowing that if you climb to a certain altitude you are safe from hitting anything while you diagnose the problem. There could be buildings or towers or even a mountain near your airport that you don’t want to be worrying about while you are troubleshooting.
This also applies when flying at night away from your airport. I recommend you stay as high as you feel safe at night, within reason, because it eliminates many of the risks of terrain and towers that can be lower. Your depth perception at night is also not the same as during the day, so having that extra buffer is a huge blessing. Looking at your route of flight on at least a sectional before you fly will help you to know what a safe altitude is.
This may seem like it is more important in mountainous areas where there are more obstructions, and that is a valid point, but I have seen 1000’+ towers in relatively flat terrain that will ruin your day just as fast as a mountain if you aren’t aware that they are there. We always try to see and avoid whether day or night, but it is more challenging to do so at night, so understanding the hazards along your route will always keep you safer.
Even though we fly on NVGs in the military, we still prepare all of our charts with safe altitudes, factor obstacles that may still be dangerous if we are low to the ground, and study them as a crew to make sure we are safe. If we have any kind of an emergency, or even just an unexpected situation that requires extra attention, we always climb to those safe altitudes so we can safely divert a little attention to whatever the problem may be.
In a similar vein it is also important to check the NOTAMs for your route of flight. These can help you identify significant towers, and maybe more importantly towers that may be unlit. These are not extremely common, but not being able to see a tower that you will be flying towards is incredibly unsafe. They could go out for any number of reasons, and you want to know that before you go. Also bear in mind with towers that they may have wires sticking out from the sides for support that you will never see at night, so just stay far away from them.
Tools like ForeFlight can also be invaluable at night, but do not just use them as a crutch. Learn the proper skills and do the proper preparation which will allow you to operate safely. Those tools can be used on the ground for all of the things I mentioned. Then you can have all of that information in one place and they will be the asset they can be instead of just a crutch or distraction.
Outside of all of the preparation I have mentioned, you need to fly at night regularly to stay proficient. It’s not enough to go knock out your three takeoffs and landings and then have your friends jump in to go for a flight the same day. You may technically be legal, but you are not proficient. The only way to get good at night landings is to practice them regularly, just like landings during the day.
The sight picture is so much different, that only experience can really prepare you. Your depth perception and peripheral vision are such important parts of flying, and they are dramatically affected by operating at night. It’s also important to go to different airports if you have the option. They all have unique lighting on the runways and surrounding areas that allow you to learn even more and expand that tool bag of knowledge that you build with each flight.
It may also be worth mentioning that one of the most common misconceptions about flying at night is that airports are really bright places, when in actuality they are generally the darkest patch of ground in an area because runway and taxiway lights are not very bright, and they don’t need to be. So if you are having trouble finding an airport at night, look for the dark areas with straight lines of lights running through them. If it is a smaller airport, pilot controlled lighting can also be a game changer with finding the airport. That many lights turning on at the same time is pretty hard to miss.
Flying at night is such a fun and unique experience. During the summer it is great because it is cooler and the air is generally a little smoother. It gives you a unique view of the places that you see regularly, because everything looks different at night. I find it to be more peaceful because not as many people fly at night. I also really enjoy being at the airport late at night because they are unusually quiet. There is something really calming about sitting in the darkness of an airport with only the runway and taxiway lights on. It’s probably because there is often so much noise around an airport, but at night it is just peaceful when not many planes are around.
So get out there and fly at night. Experience something different for a change. If you aren’t proficient then take another pilot with you who may be more proficient, because flying with friends is almost always better anyway. It really can be an underappreciated part of flying, but one that requires extra vigilance on your part to be able to enjoy it safely.