Snoopy wrote:
HeliPilot wrote: As for EASA rules, Day VFR is from sunrise (-30 minutes) to sunset (+30minutes).Please supply the source of this. Thanks.
It’s not in EASA, it is in the UK Air Navigation Order CAP393 SCHEDULE 1, Article 2, INTERPRETATION:
" “Night” means the time from half an hour after sunset until half an hour before sunrise (both times inclusive), sunset and sunrise being determined at surface level "
Can’t find anything like that in EASA docs.
HeliPilot wrote:
You are incorrect as for “gaining” a night rating; FAA is greatly more simplistic and less strict.
I agree that the gaining of a Night Rating is simpler under FAA; but both the gaining and the renewal have to be done under the stricter FAA definition of ‘Night’ and involve 3 ‘full stops’ – not ‘Go arounds’.
Peter_G wrote:
The gaining, and maintaining, of a FAA Night Rating are stricter than EASA.
There is no night rating with the FAA. The limitation is a currency one and only applies if you are carrying passengers between 1 hour after sunset to 1 hour before sunrise. Night is defined in FAA regulations as:
Night means the time between the end of evening civil twilight and the beginning of morning civil twilight, as published in the Air Almanac, converted to local time.
As long as you land after night begins but before 1 hour past sunset, you are legal to carry passengers and not be night current. I call the FAA rule for passenger carrying currency to be the “dark night” rule. If you are by yourself, the rule does not apply and in a weird situation, if you are receiving dual instruction with just you and the instructor on board, neither of you need to be current for dark night operations because you are not the instructor’s passenger and the instructor is not considered a passenger when they are giving dual instruction.
Some instrument approaches will have the note: NA at night. That does not kick in until the onset of civil twilight and just because it is past sunset, does not prohibit the approach from being flown as long as you complete the procedure before official night.
Doesn’t having an IR (or is it being IR current?) also do away with night currency requirements? Or am I imagining things again?
In EASA land yes not need for night takeoffs & landings currency if you have an IR, not in FAA land it’s 3 night landing/takeoff in last 90 days irrespective of qualifications and worse it’s more dark at Sunset+1h rather than Sunset+30min 
Funnily, instructors/examiners are exempt if suddenly their pax becomes students 
arj1 wrote:
Can’t find anything like that in EASA docs.
SERA definitions:
‘night’ means the hours between the end of evening civil twilight and the beginning of morning civil twilight. Civil twilight ends in the evening when the centre of the sun’s disc is 6 degrees below the horizon and begins in the morning when the centre of the sun’s disc is 6 degrees below the horizon;
By the way, does the UK remain bound by SERA, following Brexit? Is SERA linked to EASA membership?
The UK incorporated EU law into its law, on brexit date, so any subsequent departures will need to be explicitly implemented – AIUI.
Apparently UK CAA has reverted the few SERA items but mostly those for which it already had exemptions (Class D VMC minima for VFR, strictly speaking it’s ICAO), we have to wait for next edition of the UKANO to see if it’s just copy+past SERA (UK had untill 2022 to be fully compliant, I think that will stay)
HeliPilot wrote:
As for EASA rules, Day VFR is from sunrise (-30 minutes) to sunset (+30minutes).
That’s not correct. Day VFR is from beginning of civil twilight to end of civil twilight.
SERA definitions: ‘night’ means the hours between the end of evening civil twilight and the beginning of morning civil twilight. Civil twilight ends in the evening when the centre of the sun’s disc is 6 degrees below the horizon and begins in the morning when the centre of the sun’s disc is 6 degrees below the horizon;
SERA.5005 (c): When so prescribed by the competent authority, VFR flights at night may be permitted under the following conditions…
Before SERA, some European countries defined day VFR as SR-30 to SS+30 and some day-only airports still use the same for their opening hours, but that is not relevant for the day/night VFR distinction.
(Interestingly, in the Aircrew and Air Ops regulations, the night definition is slightly different – the Competent Authority may define night to be a different period between sunset and sunrise.)
