Sunset

I don't usually fly much at night but I do like to keep current.  The rules say that to carry passengers at night you must make 3 landings to a full stop at least 1 hour after sunset.  Why one hour, well it is not really dark at sunset.  In fact, as long as you are on the ground within 30 minutes of sunset, it is not a night flight.

Last Saturday the weather was pretty perfect and I decided to get night current.  Sunset was at 8:04 so I too off around 8:40 and did some sightseeing on the West side.  I then headed into JAX international for 2 stop and goes. 

Craig only has 4000 feet which makes stop and goes less attractive.  At JAX I had 8000 feet to land stop and then go.  After my 2 landings at JAX I headed back for my final landing at home.  I put the plane away and was current again.

I like sunset flights but unless you are night current the clock is ticking as soon as the sun sets.  You need to be on the ground in 30 minutes or less.  With my currency, I was no longer under this constraint.  With such incredible weather, I asked CC if she wanted to go watch the sun set with me.

Sunset had moved to 8:08 but that sunset is for those people on the ground.  At 3500 feet, it was 8:14.  We took off at 7:45 and enjoyed the pre show.  We took a swing down the beach and then over downtown to see the buildings in the last bits of light.

Then we headed South of Navy Jax for the big event.  I turned East as it got close to setting and then made a wide turn to the right to bring the main event into view.  It is pretty amazing, you can actually see the disk sinking below the horizon (Take that Flat Earthers).

Once the sun was gone, I eased back on the controls ans started a gentle climb.  A few hundred feet later the edge of the sun slid over the edge of the earth.  I dropped the nose and started down, making the sun set again, was a double header.  As we descended twilight faded rapidly. 

We took our time heading back and landed just before the end of twilight so technically it was not a night flight.  As we pushed the plane back in the hangar we could see the moon rising over the now dark airport.  Was a great way to enjoy the weather while social distancing.