I was never a big night flier. I'm not per se afraid of the dark but in a single engine plane, the risk is much higher at night. In the event of an engine failure, during the day you usually have good options and while the plane might not be in good shape after a gliding arrival, the passengers stood a very good chance.
At night, you just can't see the ground well enough. I used to fly a bit at night just to keep practiced but I always had a bit of apprehension on night flights.
I was surprised how much the Baron changed my perspective. Having two of everything provides a lot more comfort and redundancy. I have done a lot more night this year than I would typically do in 2 or 3 years and we are just entering the short days.
Night has some advantages too. Typically the air is smoother. There is less traffic around and it's usually easy to see traffic. Not only does the twin provide a second engine, I also have a second alternator so losing one means I have to land but I still have plenty of electricity.
Saturday we decided to go on an evening flight. Technically this did not count as night because we landed about 20 minutes after sundown and it wasn't totally dark yet. Leaving 45 minutes before sunset, the sun seems really high given that it needs to hide in just a few minutes.
We went North and watched the sun sink while enjoying the pretty colors. We didn't get a true sunset as the sun jumped behind some clouds before disappearing for the night. After the sun was gone we flew over JAX International and enjoyed the views of downtown in the twilight.
The wind had died down and we were the only people around on a Saturday evening so the tower gave us the pick of runways. this allowed us to make a pass by the beach before lining up for a straight in to 32 which minimized our taxi back.
The plane was soon away in the hangar and we were off to dinner.
No comments:
Post a Comment