Menu Sign In Contact FAQ
Banner
Welcome to our forums

Summer Night Flying

Having just picked up a shiny new (to us) c172 (thanks williamF!) I’m keen to get my night rating back in order.

I’m trying to figure out if that’s practical at this time of the year without blowing the bank. Most airfields close too early.

I’m based in sussex. What airfields can people recommend either south east or just over the channel where I can fly in Around dusk, and do some night take offs and landings?

Is PCL at Le Touquet possible to use for me, and if so how do you pay landing fees etc?

EGKL, United Kingdom

If you wait 60 days, it becomes feasible in the UK. In general (Corona permitting) these are those with long opening hours, without extra charges (in descending order): Southend, Oxford, Norwhich.

In France, as long as

  • the airport has no ban on flying in the night hours
  • you can speak French on the radio (A/A)
  • it has PCL or similar

you can fly 24/7.

Just mind that you might not be able to get out of the airport if you land. For fees, I would contact the airport management / office beforehand to understand how to pay fees. Note that the PCL charges are in many cases quite high in France.

Last Edited by boscomantico at 02 Jul 06:17
Mainz (EDFZ) & Egelsbach (EDFE), Germany

EGTK Oxford is open until 22:30.

Sunset is presently 21:26, so you have half an hour of official night operation already.

Bash the circuit for half an hour, then land and get yourself a hotel room (available from Saturday :-) and fly home the next day.

EGLM & EGTN

Blackbushes & Southend, the former has PCL, the latter has hotel nearby

Stapleford & Elstree: no circuits just out of hours night landings but they are difficult: simple light & short 600m runway and night taxi is tough unless you know the place and where every aircraft is parked

Calais has PCL (if you are brave to do night cross channel twice in the same night), just let AD management & customs know by phone beforehand (+Lille West FIS by RT) and the whole airport is yours at 22pm, at 4 T&G it comes cheaper than Southend

Cardiff is also an option

L2K is closed for UK arrivals from 1900LT

Obviously night rating is the least useful thing in the UK, except the early fun part, the hassle factor for keeping pax currency (EASA & FAA) is just out of proportion: out of hours forms, how to pay for fees, out of hours charges, hotels, taxis, ferry flights …

Last Edited by Ibra at 02 Jul 09:54
Paris/Essex, France/UK, United Kingdom

When I was doing my FAA PPL night flying, which includes a night X/C, I did it between Southend and either Bristol or Cardiff (don’t recall which), staying in a cheap motel at Southend. Biggin Hill is open until 11pm or so but after 9pm there is a hefty surcharge just like Southend.

My night passenger carriage lapses most winters – just don’t need it due to airport opening times alone. The FAA also adds 1hr to SS for this purpose, not 30 mins like Europe does, which makes it even harder. But if you have a valid EASA IR, which I have most times, you get exempted* (the rationale behind that escapes me since nobody will crash unless they hit the ground, and the IR does not test your landings provided the FE survives)

* for an N-reg, only in the airspace owned by the country which issued the IR

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Værnes (ENVA) is open 24/7 but in summer there is no night, better to come in winter for that :-)

ENVA, Norway

So what goes in your FCL instead of “night rating”? PPL + “winter rating”

Paris/Essex, France/UK, United Kingdom

Ibra wrote:

the hassle factor for keeping pax currency (EASA & FAA) is just out of proportion: out of hours forms, how to pay for fees, out of hours charges, hotels, taxis, ferry flights …

Not to mention the weird attitude at some places that ‘night flying’ is a special thing, an activity that has to be organised and controlled, rather than just flying aeroplanes when it happens to be dark.

EGLM & EGTN

The problem is you will have to spend the night somewhere before returning home.
If not you could go to say Lille, make patterns there, then fly back, with 2 FPLs but without stopping the engine.

Of course you can use L2K. Just do your stuff, find a hotel, then come back the next morning to pay your fees. Or just call them beforehand and give them your number. They are flexible, you’ll find a way.

Enjoy night flying ! I miss it now that I’m based at an unlighted field

Last Edited by Jujupilote at 02 Jul 11:45
LFOU, France

Just remember this:

C1941/20
Q) LFFF/QICAS/I/NBO/A/000/999/5031N00138E005
A) LFAT
B) 2006301242 C) 2007311500
E) ILS RWY13 OUT OF SERVICE.
DO NOT USE, POSSIBLE WRONG INDICATIONS

Also can a Brit visit France (other than stop airside for fuel)? I don’t think so. The UK quarantine is also active – till 6th July or so.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom
16 Posts
Sign in to add your message

Back to Top