So I was 6 months out of currency for night landings. (It can be difficult to get an aircraft late enough, as sunset is pretty late this time of year, and the flying school closes at 7 pm).
I fixed that last night.
One of the crew at the flying school was gonna be flying until about 10PM, I arranged for him to call me when he was about 20 minutes out, met him at the ramp, and did 3 night landings before we put the plane away.
Total time for 3 full stop landings and the associated taxiing and pattern:
0.2.
The pattern was empty, winds were calm, so I did one takeoff on 36, transitioned to the left for landing on 9. Full stop...took off again and did a transition to 18, full stop, went around the pattern from 18, then transitioned to 27 for my last one and turned off at the appropriate taxiway (this was the shortest path) and taxied back to the school. Pretty much cloverleafs.
I remember night landings to be harder. This time they were fairly easy.
So now I got my 3 for the next 90.
I fixed that last night.
One of the crew at the flying school was gonna be flying until about 10PM, I arranged for him to call me when he was about 20 minutes out, met him at the ramp, and did 3 night landings before we put the plane away.
Total time for 3 full stop landings and the associated taxiing and pattern:
0.2.
The pattern was empty, winds were calm, so I did one takeoff on 36, transitioned to the left for landing on 9. Full stop...took off again and did a transition to 18, full stop, went around the pattern from 18, then transitioned to 27 for my last one and turned off at the appropriate taxiway (this was the shortest path) and taxied back to the school. Pretty much cloverleafs.
I remember night landings to be harder. This time they were fairly easy.
So now I got my 3 for the next 90.
Smart. :-)
ReplyDeleteAlways remember that the FARs, while legal, are not necessarily safe. The minimum standards are just that, minimal. While practice makes perfect, more practice makes more perfecter!
ReplyDeleteDale
Dale: I agree.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the logistics for this are difficult to overcome what with limited hours and rental aircraft. Getting the time at 10 PM was a favor to me.
If it were up to me, and I owned my own aircraft, I'd do many more night landings....at airports with less (or no) lighting than at the one I did land at.
As it is, I gotta take what I can get.
The one thing I DO know is that my PPL is just a license to learn.