Well, its time for me to fly at night. I really want to become competent enough to tour the EU at night and I take this rating seriously because it will allow me to enter conditions far beyond my ability.
And hopefully this time I wont be blindly going to a random organization in a random country I don’t know anything about.
With that being said, I’m looking at Netherlands because:
1. I just found out that there are training organizations operating at EHRD which is awesome because I love big and busy international airports, It’s super easy to commute and I love big cities with skyscrapers, especially at night when they light up.
2. EHLE seems like a big GA airport which I would love to visit. Although the Lelystad city seems small so not much to do, there are few Airbnb’s and the commute seems to be a pain without a car.
Other then that, there would be NewCAG in Charleroi. I’ve been watching videos from people being instructed and I like it but I don’t know anything about Belgium so I’m hesitant.
Getting a VFR night rating is a great idea. I hope you find a good instructor that will help you understand the enormous additional risks of NVFR flying.
Also get yourself IFR capable – because a real proper night is basically IMC.
eurogaguest1980 wrote:
Getting a VFR night rating is a great idea. I hope you find a good instructor that will help you understand the enormous additional risks of NVFR flying.
Thank you.
Peter wrote:
Also get yourself IFR capable – because a real proper night is basically IMC.
That would be the next step after class 1 shenanigans, mostly because I want to be CAS expected and have traffic separation but IMC is definitely a bonus.
I did mine with Brussels Aviation School in Charleroi. No complaints, they did the theory part online with all the night students for the season, and doing night circuits at EBCI with all the Ryan/Wizz traffic was certainly fun and very different from my PPL grass-field experience. For me was more a busy CAS rating than a night rating.
For me night was a formality on the way to IR training. No theoretical exam and flying completed in a couple of days. Not something worth big preparations. Would advise to do it locally.
“Would advise to do it locally.”
Thanks but there is nothing local to me. I would have to travel in anycase so I might aswell combine a mini vacation and the NR together and explore the GA scene.
For me was more a busy CAS rating than a night rating.
Thanks.
To give a different perspective: I have a VFR night rating but I so far never dared to use it with passengers. The risks are just too big for my comfort zone.
I am working on an IR and that would probably tip the scale of night flying for me. I second the folks here saying it is a good step on your way to an IR. I don’t think I’ll ever fly a proper VFR flight at night* though, not even with the IR. The risks of CFIT is just too high.
*circuits/local flight don’t count, I’m talking about “going somewhere” here
It really depends on where you fly. In Switzerland the topography increases the risk significantly for VFR cross country travel.
I got my night rating on the flatlands of western Canada where it makes a lot of sense and adds value to the licence even VFR since airports are open 24hr. Good weather (planning) is essential though, especially for cross country flight over sparsely settled terrain on a moonless night when clouds can‘t be detected with the naked eye. The training was a joy due to all the new sensory input during flight manoeuvres. Highly recommended as a confidence builder when planning to continue on to an IR.
Once you have IFR capability then keeping VMC is extremely limiting. CFIT is not a problem enroute unless you have totally lost the plot.
Reminds me of a CFIT done by a UK FI on a night navex, with no GPS to show how brilliant dead reckoning is. Amazingly both survived, with badly broken legs. The FI defended it on a UK GA chat site but dropped out after someone reminded him that he was risking a personal injury action by the student 
