Hello,
Just passed the FAA IR knowledge test and I am looking for an instructor who could help me get a Night Rating in the U.K./France over the Summer as I need this before getting the full FAA IR. Any recommendations would be very useful !
Thank you and happy flying.
The biggest issue with night in UK summer is open airports. Depending on where you can go, the choice can be extremely limited.
France would be easier to get it thanks to H24 airports. But they scarce and FIs available late at night even more.
If you fly of LFBE Bergerac, maybe the FTO based in Agen may help you, at a cost.
If you can train at LFPT near Paris, tell me I may know some options.
To the best of my knowledge, and there are lots of threads about this in another place, the only UK place to fly very late without airline / corporate levels of money changing hands for landing and handling is Oxford which runs until 2230 local. Even there, this week that gives you barely half an hour.
Still, it’s the solstice on Thursday so from Friday we can all gloomily say, “The nights are drawing in”. Or is that just me? :-)
Southend, Cardiff, Oxford, Biggin. Then there are many farm strips with runway lights. It all depends on how much night time you need. In most cases one needs just a couple of flights. I have 2400hrs TT but only about 30 at night 
Actually, my worry is more about finding an instructor willing to fly that late :D
It’s a 5 hour course, with mandatory dual and solo elements. To be honest you’ve got no chance in the UK until August at least unless you want to pay particularly high rates.
Do I understand correctly that you need a FAA instructor, an EASA one will not do?
Any ICAO authorised instructor should be acceptable to the FAA. Large numbers of European pilots got their FAA papers based on their European training.
There are some strongly dissenting views, mainly to do with the meaning of the FAA term authorised instructor. @ncyankee might know more.
Also bear in mind that the FAA night rating requires a specific night cross country flight, which the EASA one doesn’t need (or didn’t when I was doing it, in JAA days). A lot of European pilots, who had the NQ, had to do extra night hours to get their FAA PPLs, as a result.
I did my night hours for the FAA PPL with an EASA instructor in Germany. We did a 2,5hrs cross country flight and then another 1,something for the required 10 full-stop landings. The examiner accepted it, no issue at all.
In fact all but five or so of my required hours had been done over time in Europe. I just needed some more instrument time and the three hours before the checkride to get my endorsement.
When I recently converted my FAA PPL to an EASA-FCL PPL (instead of moving up from LAPL to EASA-FCL) they also accepted my FAA PIC night hours and issued me a night rating as well.
