Navigating at night
Which checkpoints actually work after dark, the early signs of deteriorating weather, and what to do if the engine quits.
12 min read · Night flying
After this lesson you can
- Distinguish visual checkpoints that remain reliable at night from those that become misleading or invisible.
- Recognize the visual signs that a night VFR flight is entering reduced visibility before it becomes dangerous.
- Explain why distance and altitude judgment is less reliable at night and what compensates for it.
- Execute the sequence of actions for an engine failure at night.
Night visual navigation runs on a paradox: some checkpoints get dramatically better after dark, and others disappear completely. A city that is unremarkable by day can be seen from forty miles at night; a ridge line that dominates the horizon by day is invisible.
The whole discipline is choosing checkpoints from the first category and treating everything in the second category as though it were an instrument flight -- planning altitudes and margins on paper, in advance, rather than trusting a look outside that will not tell you what you need to know.
The rest of this lesson
- 1.What still works as a checkpoint, and what does not
- 2.Reading the early signs of weather
- 3.Distance and altitude are harder to judge
- 4.Route and altitude planning
- 5.Engine failure at night
These 5 sections, their figures, the checks along the way and the end-of-lesson quiz come with the CPL track. Paid once, yours for good.
Key terms
Try to recall each definition before turning the card.