PILOT SPIN
Pilot Zone => Pilot Zone => Topic started by: Becky (My pronouns are Assigned/By/God) on March 04, 2016, 12:16:18 PM
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My husband flies VFR all the time. He is instrument rated but does not fly IFR, I think because he is conservative when it comes to overall safety.
But he acts as safety pilot for a guy, in a Mooney (my husband flies a C175), and next week will be safety pilot for a night flight. The Mooney guy is going for all kinds of ratings, so he's pretty active.
I feel uncomfortable that my husband's adjustment to the human factors/situational awareness issues at night may not be the best because he never flies at night. I've read about many accidents that occur at night because perception can be so altered, especially when landing.
Should I be worried? He says no. :-\
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My husband flies VFR all the time. He is instrument rated but does not fly IFR, I think because he is conservative when it comes to overall safety.
But he acts as safety pilot for a guy, in a Mooney (my husband flies a C175), and next week will be safety pilot for a night flight. The Mooney guy is going for all kinds of ratings, so he's pretty active.
I feel uncomfortable that my husband's adjustment to the human factors/situational awareness issues at night may not be the best because he never flies at night. I've read about many accidents that occur at night because perception can be so altered, especially when landing.
Should I be worried? He says no. :-\
at night, the other aircraft are easier to see because of the postion lights etc. However, there is the problem of seeing some aircraft when the are a bazillion city lights.
A bigger problem is being to avoid clouds.
otherwise, flying at night is awesome.
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My husband flies VFR all the time. He is instrument rated but does not fly IFR, I think because he is conservative when it comes to overall safety.
But he acts as safety pilot for a guy, in a Mooney (my husband flies a C175), and next week will be safety pilot for a night flight. The Mooney guy is going for all kinds of ratings, so he's pretty active.
I feel uncomfortable that my husband's adjustment to the human factors/situational awareness issues at night may not be the best because he never flies at night. I've read about many accidents that occur at night because perception can be so altered, especially when landing.
Should I be worried? He says no. :-\
If your husband is instrument rated, he has the skills to be safe at night, even if he's not current.
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The major hazard at night is loss of engine power in a single and then finding a good place to land in the dark. If he is ok with the guy's maintenance, go for it.
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The airplane doesn't know the difference between day or night. There are differences in day/night flight that raises the risk, but the Nall report statistical increase in risk can be called noise, depending upon ones persuasion. For this reason I haven't been averse to night flight as a general rule.
It however may be helpful to brush up on those differences at least from an academic standpoint. If he is acting as SP and the PF is otherwise competent then he should be basically relegated to just traffic duty, assuming also that they are operating in Class E or above airspace.
Bottom line: I think your stress should be barely a tick higher than any other flight, with proper preparation.
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I concur with the others. I don't think it's a big deal. Flying at night is actually somewhat easier than day VFR as things are lit up where you land, and with modern NAV it isn't difficult. The only time I had sweaty palms was when my landing light failed, and I couldn't get the airport lights to come on for whatever reason. They just weren't working. There was a nagging power line on final that I worried about, but slammed dunked it, and came in high then slipped, and we were down.
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Most of the factors about flying at night are in the final approach phase (ie. the black-hole illusion etc.)
Since he's a safety pilot, most likely he will not be conducting the final landing. He's there to perform "see-and-avoid" services for the pilot flying.
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Thanks. :( Now to get the phrase "black hole" out of my mind.
What a weird coincidence, your landing lights and the airport lights all going out. These are the things that bother me.
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Thanks. :( Now to get the phrase "black hole" out of my mind.
What a weird coincidence, your landing lights and the airport lights all going out. These are the things that bother me.
Yeah, the Tiger's landing light was pretty unreliable until I figured out there was a wiring problem. I don't know why I couldn't get the airport lights on. They worked later that week. It's all good. ;D
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Thanks. :( Now to get the phrase "black hole" out of my mind.
Just do some light reading of the collected works of Kip Thorne (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kip_Thorne) and you'll be set.
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Just do some light reading of the collected works of Kip Thorne (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kip_Thorne) and you'll be set.
We heard him and John Wheeler speak at lecture series here locally! Plus, our local planetarium (small, but nice) has a film about black holes. Plus, we also have here the LIGO, which recently detected gravity waves from space!
I don't quite grasp it all, but I can see that it is cool.
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Becky- as I recall correctly you have your ticket, right?
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Bottom line: I think your stress should be barely a tick higher than any other flight, with proper preparation.
Agreed.
But best to remember that for most of us, our alertness and abilities may be waning after sundown.
Plus, at altitude, night vision is affected by lower 02 levels, and optical illusions tend to be more common and persistent.
Plus, there may be some pressure to get home after a long, tiring day of flying.
Cumulatively, the above can make flying more difficult, and risky, at night.
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Becky- as I recall correctly you have your ticket, right?
No,I am a right seater. I don't like to fly, but will do it if necessary. However, I love discussions with pilots, including my husband. I've found them to be an intelligent, articulate group whose opinions I value.
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Agreed.
But best to remember that for most of us, our alertness and abilities may be waning after sundown.
Plus, at altitude, night vision is affected by lower 02 levels, and optical illusions tend to be more common and persistent.
Plus, there may be some pressure to get home after a long, tiring day of flying.
Cumulatively, the above can make flying more difficult, and risky, at night.
Those issues are the ones that worry me.
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If your husband can't fly at night you should be plenty worried, and should probably have him hang it up right away. Isn't all that difficult, truth be told, and if you travel you could wind up having to fly at night whether you like it or not. I can't imagine going through everything I'm going to have to go through to get the IR rating and then not use it.
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If your husband can't fly at night you should be plenty worried, and should probably have him hang it up right away. Isn't all that difficult, truth be told, and if you travel you could wind up having to fly at night whether you like it or not. I can't imagine going through everything I'm going to have to go through to get the IR rating and then not use it.
How's your IR training going, Michael? I did a lot (35-45%) of my IR training at night. It was very valuable.
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If your husband can't fly at night you should be plenty worried, and should probably have him hang it up right away. Isn't all that difficult, truth be told, and if you travel you could wind up having to fly at night whether you like it or not. I can't imagine going through everything I'm going to have to go through to get the IR rating and then not use it.
He can fly at night, but he just doesn't. He doesn't fly IFR, either, although he is rated for it. I think he avoids both for safety reasons, but of course, that is a catch 22. You have to fly in varying conditions to stay capable at it, but the more you fly the higher your risk of something awful happening.
I should "probably have him hang it up right away?" If I could do that and preserve our excellent relationship, I would, but I think when he himself notices something amiss is when he'll quit.
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He can fly at night, but he just doesn't. He doesn't fly IFR, either, although he is rated for it. I think he avoids both for safety reasons, but of course, that is a catch 22. You have to fly in varying conditions to stay capable at it, but the more you fly the higher your risk of something awful happening.
I should "probably have him hang it up right away?" If I could do that and preserve our excellent relationship, I would, but I think when he himself notices something amiss is when he'll quit.
My concern is that in avoiding the "high risk" by flying less often, he may put himself at the other end of the risk exposure curve.
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How's your IR training going, Michael? I did a lot (35-45%) of my IR training at night. It was very valuable.
So far just watching Sportys videos. Just scored a KLN94 for the aircraft. Once that's in the panel and its current for its pitot static it'll be time to start in earnest. Thanks for asking.
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Get the King KLN-94 DVD. Helped me a lot with using the GPS for a variety of functions.
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Get the King KLN-94 DVD. Helped me a lot with using the GPS for a variety of functions.
Got the book, but if I can't hack it I'll follow your advice. Saw one operated by a pal in his Skyhawk, didn't look too bad. I shall of course keep you apprised.
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So far just watching Sportys videos. Just scored a KLN94 for the aircraft. Once that's in the panel and its current for its pitot static it'll be time to start in earnest. Thanks for asking.
Have you taken the written? I used John and Martha for that. Outstanding as always.
In fact, I've tried studying on my own for the commercial for about two years. Pathetically inefficient. I finally broke down and bought the King School commercial course, which I'll start right after tax season.
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I'm in ground IR now. Class this evening and I haven't gotten out of bed yet (sigh). And you know the PTS is now ACS starting in June. So I won't be ready to test by then.
Steingar, plenty of YouTube videos too but most are lame.
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Have you taken the written? I used John and Martha for that. Outstanding as always.
In fact, I've tried studying on my own for the commercial for about two years. Pathetically inefficient. I finally broke down and bought the King School commercial course, which I'll start right after tax season.
I haven't yet taken the written. My strategy has been to watch the videos once, then again while taking notes. Hopefully by then I'll be ready to start some flying, for further inculcation. Once I get through the videos again I should be good to go with a review of my notes. Most of the stuff is pretty easy, though I'm deep sixing the ADF in the aircraft. I could barely comprehend what they were talking about with those approaches, not doing them.
The KLN94 I got came with a card reader and an extra card. Pretty good deal, actually, just gotta get it into the panel. I'll keep you all apprised.
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I'm in ground IR now. Class this evening and I haven't gotten out of bed yet (sigh). And you know the PTS is now ACS starting in June. So I won't be ready to test by then.
Steingar, plenty of YouTube videos too but most are lame.
I've been pretty happy with the Sporty's videos so far, seems like a good investment. Probably sell them after get the rating too, drive down my costs a bit.
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My concern is that in avoiding the "high risk" by flying less often, he may put himself at the other end of the risk exposure curve.
He flies once or twice a week, but controls the situation (daytime, no IFR weather, etc.), I think because of safety. But yes, I have always been concerned about the Catch 22 that flying recreationally puts a person into.