Night VFR Circuits

Flight Hours: 3.5
Study Hours: 0

Note: This event occurred around mid-October

Now that I have access to an aircraft, it will be much cheaper for me to chase
endorsements and ratings. A school rental + instructor runs upwards of $250 AUD with taxes applied. By using my aircraft, an instructor only costs between $60 and $85.

I did find a neat trick with flying training in Australia though. Sign a form stating that you will pursue your commercial rating (CPL) and you can fly GST tax exempt. This takes 10% of the price away, which at least provides an extra incentive.

A night rating (NVFR) is the first new rating that I will complete. The rating provides me with greater options if the weather is going to pose a problem during daylight or if I am needing to leave earlier or later than planned. Before I get a chance to use it for weather related issues, I will probably be instrument rated, but none the less, I could let my IFR recency slide, but still have Night VFR options and the ability to fly scenic at night.

My only obstacle was to find an instructor who would be willing to teach NVFR-SE. Not many instructors in Australia seem to be interested in teaching single engine night VFR, however I believe you can mitigate the risks by thorough and smarter flight planning, managing not to go over areas that provide little option for emergency landings without a proper light source. An engine doesn't know whether it is day or night, although it usually performs better at night in the cooler air.

Funnily enough, it is either the young instructors or the very old war pilot type instructors who seem to enjoy providing the training and rating check ride for NVFR. Flying at night is great fun. Smooth air, completely different viewing of the same items, especially scenic flights around cities. The rating also resets my BFR time.

My first lesson involved circuits. I had only a few hours in a C172 by this stage, but landing a 172 is nothing compared to a Sundowner, Sierra or Mooney. The 172 is a piece of cake most of the time and greaser landings are fun to rinse and repeat.

The perspective at night is quite different and I noticed the cockpit workload felt like it was higher few the first few minutes, but that isn't really the case. By the end of the hour, the instructor felt confident enough to provide me with a solo night circuit endorsement along with telling me to plan a NAV with circuits at other airfields.