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Spooked about night flying in singles?
If not, maybe you should be. There will be a debate about flying at night in single-engine airplanes for as long as there are single-engine airplanes and it gets dark every night. That is a given. (airfactsjournal.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
Midwinter flights over snow covered ground with a full moon are certainly spectacular!
Yes. And the sorta funny old story, when flying in a single at night and the engine quits, when you think you are close to the ground turn on the landing light, if you like what you see, land. If you don't like what you see, turn off the landing light. Cheers.
Dilly, dilly!
I personally love flying VFR at night. It helps me appreciate day VFR even more!
It depends on your age and responsibilities. The thought process in the brain changes dramaticly as we age. My first flying job was carrying canceled checks in a C-182 5 nights a week in every kind of weather around Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia. I didn't think a thing of it at the time. Hell, I was getting paid to fly! Now I shudder at the thought. I would never do it again but would also never trade the experience I gained for anything.
I'll take the twin, but with misgivings. If I were flying over downtown L.A. at night, in cruise, I wanna be in the twin. (This is all hypothetical, haven't been there, done that in forty years) The problem with the twin often comes just after takeoff if an engine quits.
Life is so much simpler in the single if your only engine quits. You're landing. Will it be the golf course or the roof of the shopping mall? (think San Jose, Reid- Hillview) Your choice. With the twin, there are more decisions to make that could put you into more peril than in the single.
When I was doing my initial night training, my Instructor told me to "head for a dark spot". OK, no guarantees there, either.
Life is so much simpler in the single if your only engine quits. You're landing. Will it be the golf course or the roof of the shopping mall? (think San Jose, Reid- Hillview) Your choice. With the twin, there are more decisions to make that could put you into more peril than in the single.
When I was doing my initial night training, my Instructor told me to "head for a dark spot". OK, no guarantees there, either.
Yes, but, a piston twin operated by a qualified, well trained pilot who operates it conservatively, and adheres to the performance limitations will not report an engine failure in most circumstances. He or she will not crash. Thus no reliable data on said scenario. Though the odds of losing one in a twin are "arguably" twice those for a single. So I'll say, if you can afford to own and train for twin engine ops. your odds are better. If not, a single is the logical choice. And if you have 6 flashlights in your kit maybe night flyin ain't for you. Just the ramblings of an old freight dog.