TECHNIQUE
NIGHT I
FLY BY
Night flying offers a whole new experience, but there are a few dark matters worth bearing in mind
t had been a great day out. Accompanied by a few work colleagues, we had eaten lunch at ‘Sharky’s On The Pier’ before spending the afternoon in the glorious Florida sunshine relaxing on the beach where sharks’ teeth can be found in the sand giving credence to the restaurant’s name. As the sun set across Venice, Florida, we walked back to the flying club to get showered and changed before climbing aboard our trusty chariot – a rented, and somewhat sun-faded, Cessna 172.
Despite having flown a reasonable number of night flights across many countries, this one was memorable because of the ability to extend our day out and enjoy the incredibly still air and clear moonlit sky on our return. In those pre-GPS days, the flight back was more relaxed than normal as navigation was kept simple by keeping the Gulf Coast out of the port
window and the starboard side lit up by the bright lights of Sarasota which drifted serenely past as we flew northbound. Night flying offers a whole new
experience to the private pilot, with magical views of the airfields and cities below. Features you might use for navigation during daylight can all but
disappear, providing a whole new aspect to your airfield and the surrounding areas. Towns and cities become prominent features, with water masses, smaller roads and terrain disappearing into the night sky. Night can bring calmer winds, quieter radio communications and much smoother flying conditions. Colours of the airfield,
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