Signed up for Night VFR circuits

[facthunter]

It's sometimes called a Hanger. Nev

 

 

[barramundi]

looks and sounds very enticing! good to see you are improving your skills.

 

 

[ayavner]

nowhere to go but up!

 

 

[turboplanner]

Night flying is a big, and sometimes scary (depending on how much equipment the aircraft has) step up from day flying. On a dark night I fail to see the deference between IMC if you are in sparsely populated country.

NVFR stand for Night Visual Flight Rules - there has to be enough light to navigate by visual flight rules just as you do during the day.

 

Too many people have confused that meaning over the years and paid for it with their lives - it is not an IMC rating.

 

It isn't suitable for cross-country flying at night since weather patterns change, and farm density varies - in wheat country the house lights are too far apart to provide a horizon.

 

Many people get the endorsement in case they fail to make their destination by last light, but again, unless you can see a horizon, you need an IMC rating, as we saw with the Angel Flight crash in the Wimmera.

 

 

[Ada Elle]

One thing I want to do with my (eventually to be obtained) NVFR rating is to just fly in circles staring at the stars. I used to love being a passenger in a convertible, lying back, watching the stars go by while driving through B roads in the national park.

 

 

[ben87r]

NVFR stand for Night Visual Flight Rules - there has to be enough light to navigate by visual flight rules just as you do during the day.Too many people have confused that meaning over the years and paid for it with their lives - it is not an IMC rating.

It isn't suitable for cross-country flying at night since weather patterns change, and farm density varies - in wheat country the house lights are too far apart to provide a horizon.

 

Many people get the endorsement in case they fail to make their destination by last light, but again, unless you can see a horizon, you need an IMC rating, as we saw with the Angel Flight crash in the Wimmera.

Ummmmm...what?

 

(stand for Night Visual Flight Rules there has to be enough light to navigate by visual flight rules just as you do during the day.) Light has nothing to do with visibility, you can "see' Nothing and have unlimited visibility.

 

(Many people get the endorsement in case they fail to make their destination by last light, but again, unless you can see a horizon, you need an IMC rating, as we saw with the Angel Flight crash in the Wimmera)

 

Although I agree that this is what it was designed for, you do not NEED an IMC (instrument) rating if you cant see a horizon although, It might be a bloody good idea to reconsider the flight depending on experience.

 

 

[turboplanner]

The "horizon" I'm referring to can be a series of lights.

 

 

[ben87r]

Or, the AH?

 

 

[turboplanner]

No, go and have a look at the definition of VFR.

 

 

[ayavner]

A series of lights along a line of increasing height (say up a mountainside) would not make a very good horizon. The CAAP also says that while NVFR is not an instrument rating, proficiency with and use of instruments is accepted and acceptable:

 

https://www.casa.gov.au/sites/g/files/net351/f/_assets/main/download/caaps/ops/5_13_2.pdf

 

The emphasis is mine, just to show points on both sides of the debate in this thread. Our own advisories aren't as clear cut as one would hope. Its basically - "don't do this... but if you do..."

 

CAAP 5.13-2(0): NVFR Rating

 

3.2 What is Night VFR (NVFR)? 3.2.1 Night Visual Flight Rules (NVFR) permit flight at night under the Visual Flight Rules (VFR) using visual navigation augmented by the use of radio navigation aids. Flight under the VFR (by day or night) must be conducted in Visual Meteorological Conditions (VMC), that specify minimum inflight visibility and vertical and horizontal distance from cloud.

 

3.2.2 NVFR is not the same as flying at night under the Instrument Flight Rules (IFR), even though NVFR involves proficiency in instrument flying and the use of radio navigation aids. This is because NVFR flight is based on the use of visual procedures in VMC.

 

**BUT**

 

5.3.5 While NVFR flight must be conducted in VMC, a visual horizon is often not available and sudden loss of visual reference is also possible, such as when turning away from a well-lighted area or if there is inadvertent entry into cloud. Night flying training should therefore emphasise the importance of flying the aircraft at all times by reference to the flight instruments, even in conditions where external lighting provides adequate visual reference.

 

5.5 NVFR Rating flight test

 

5.5.1 The flight test for a NVFR Rating must assess three basic areas of night flying proficiency: Flying solely by reference to instruments; Night circuit and landing; Navigation at night by visual reference both with and without the use of radio navigation aids.

 

So you're both right. The takeaway for me is (as with any flying) not to get myself into a situation where I require skills I do not have in order to get out of it.

 

 

[facthunter]

I've never been a fan of the Night VFR concept. Unless things have changed, CASA regard the Private IF Rating, with endorsements for instrument based navigation suitable to your operation(s) a preferred alternative. You can lose visual reference for many reasons. You must be able to fly by instruments and trust them, and have an aeroplane where they are operating reliably to cover the situation you will inevitably encounter at some point, flying at night. Nev

 

 

[Guest Howard Hughes]

Night flying is the bomb!

 

Here is a landing at Sydney.

 

 

 

[ben87r]

C'Mon HH, Coupled ILS is cheating!!

 

 

[Graham Pukallus]

Here a video of my last flight review for my NVFR.

 

Great experience indeed.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO47OMMgi5M