Sorry, wasn’t very clear. In the US you need to be night current (3 landings to full stop in 90 days) to carry passengers at night, whether IFR or VFR. But in France, if you have an IR, then even for VFR flight you don’t need to do anything special – you’re automatically night current (as I understand it). That doesn’t make a lot of sense to me – you could be a genius at flying approaches and still have no idea how to land at night. But I don’t make the rules.
So if I’m flying in France, IFR or VFR, I can legally carry passengers at night. But outside France, I’m “exercising the privileges” of my FAA license, so I need to be FAA-style night current.
Will be doing some night flying this evening 
Still haven’t got my rating after LT more or less sabotaged the whole thing when covid started, and lack of local instructors ever since. But finally – perhaps the gods are nice for a change
Will I ever use that rating for anything practical? Very seldom at best I think. I mostly fly in the summer when it’s light 24/7. So it will be the occasional circumstance when it’s too dark to get home VFR day, but mostly simply to fly in the snow covered mountains when the moon is shining Also has this little dream of landing on ice covered lakes with only live fire to light up the strip. That would be really cool. And of course ENOP will be cool in the night.
This summer the regs for UL will also change allowing VFR night. As an instructor I simply have to have this rating, and there’s space for an AI in the Savannah With ULs VFR night will only be allowed with BRS, which most ULs have anyway.
As to the danger of VFR night vs day? I haven’t really made up my mind. In the winter, the largest danger (around here) is emergency landing in the middle of nowhere and freezing to death anyway. Night or day makes little difference. With a BRS there’s simply no difference whatsoever. I do see a real danger in less than optimal conditions. No clear blue sky, and one has to rely almost 100% on instruments between the mountains. No matter how how you look at it, in Norway all the airfields are placed at the bottom of the valleys, so there’s no way to not fly between the mountains at some point (minimum two points). Clear blue sky it is for now.
@johnh, yes in France is doesn’t make a difference whether you fly IFR day or night, you just log IFR. Although I have a night VFR qualification I never use it, because I just file IFR and meet the requirements for that. If I was to fly night VFR for the same flight I would need the appropriate currency, to carry passengers.
I can also fly IFR at night to other countries so I am not clear why you can’t do the same on your French licence. There is nothing very different to flying IFR day or night unless you have a tech issue.
Whereas rules to NVFR require basically clear skies.
Night flying on Single Engine airplanes (and particularly piston powered) obviously carries an additional (high) risk which can basically only be managed by not flying at night at all or at least not planning on doing it.
We all understand that there´s no engine redundancy when we chose to go fly our single engine airplanes and we are left with zero choice if that one and only engine fails.
I would rather have a low ceiling (say 1000ft) in IMC conditions, than flying at night time, and I wouldn´t even compare the two scenarios.
I don´t see a realistic positive outcome flying at at night time considering engine out – I´m uncomfortable with the risk involved and wouldn´t do it.
As far as I´m concerned – I only do night flying in the circuit of an airfield approved for night landing. This carries a brief period of concern (risk) at the point between where an immediate straight ahead landing on the remaining runway is no longer an option, and the glide return to airfield is again possible (“the impossible turn”). Risk management.
I like doing sundowner flights, but it will be with returning to land, at night approved airfield, before I can´t see the fields anymore – so technically night flying, but not in darkness prohibiting an off airfield landing.
LeSving wrote:
As to the danger of VFR night vs day? I haven’t really made up my mind. In the winter, the largest danger (around here) is emergency landing in the middle of nowhere and freezing to death anyway. Night or day makes little difference. With a BRS there’s simply no difference whatsoever. I do see a real danger in less than optimal conditions
You don´t have an ELT installed or carry with you a PLB? Surely in Norway you´d have assistance faster than you´d freeze to death (on land), if you transmit distress signals accordingly?
Yeager wrote:
Surely in Norway you´d have assistance faster than you´d freeze to death (on land), if you transmit distress signals accordingly?
Yes, but that is the only real danger, freezing to death. And it makes no difference if it is night or day. Chances are, they will probably find me faster at night due to light conditions, and lights from the aircraft or torch or head lamp.
johnh wrote:
But in France, if you have an IR, then even for VFR flight you don’t need to do anything special – you’re automatically night current (as I understand it)
True for all EASA IR (you still need the 3 T/O, approaches and landings in the last 90 days to carry pax of course – the IR just gets you off the hook for the one at night as you said).
I have a follow-up question to that: the FCL states for PIC at night you need either the one T/O and landing OR “Hold an IR”. It doesn’t say “current IR” or “valid IR” or whatever. Does that mean once you passed the IR the night landing requirement is waived forever even if you have not renewed? That seems kind of weird.
RV14 wrote:
1. inflight collision, bright city lights don’t make it any easier to spot an old spam can with the original style strobes and lights, to make things worst, everyone wants to make it just before airport closes, it’s specific to my home, but due to airspace structure believe it or not, gaggles form over entry points at 1500ft during those times.
Obviously this depends on country. In countries with no night VFR cross country this is less probably to happen.
2. got hit by a laser, yes it happened to me…
Inconvenient and dangerous but hardly more dangerous than engine failure.
3. weather, especially icing at this time of year, the risk is not night time specific but night makes it an order of magnitude greater
More-less same risk day and night, nothing specific for nigh flying.
1. Set the G box on the “nearest airport” page, from FL100 usually there is one within gliding range
Lucky you living in a flatlands country with so many suitable airports.
2. Practice “visual approaches” again G terminology, to unlighted airfields until I can put the aircraft down at night with a satisfactory level of proficiency
That’s pretty hard skill to achieve. Descending to pitch black with no lights on runway and no instrument guiding, no info on obstacles, based on DIY approach with no engine(s) is pretty brave. I don’t know anything about the experience you have and I only can take for granted that’s possible to do.
Tango wrote:
“Hold an IR”. It doesn’t say “current IR” or “valid IR” or whatever. Does that mean once you passed the IR the night landing requirement is waived forever even if you have not renewed?
Holding some privilege automatically means it’s valid and current. You can’t hold invalid or expired privilege because it’s not a privilege any more. In rare cases when your expired privilege is recognized, it’s specifically noted as “holds or held” (or something similar, depending on context).
