Ok you may need that for landing, but do you really need more than Synth-Vision on PFD for takeoff?
Thermal would not work but a straight 3rd Gen image intensifier ought to. I am told they can now be sold legally to the public in Europe (UK, at least).
While on the topic of odd runway illumination, a couple of stories from my past…
I used to fly weekly, or twice weekly flights in the 182 one summer, from north of Toronto, to near Chicago hauling parts for my boss. As the flights continued into the fall, the days got shorter. After clearing customs in Toronto, I realized that I would not make it to our home aerodrome, Pottageville, for my final leg during daylight hours. This was long before cell phones, so I called my boss’s home, and told his wife that the last leg of the flight would not work due to darkness, as there being no runway lights at Pottageville. His wife told me that he was expecting me to fly in that night. Unsure of a now changed plan, I asked her to drive down, and specifically ask him if he intended that I fly his 182 into Pottageville that evening. A half hour later the next call contained the confirmation that yes, he was ready for me to fly in.
As I approached Pottagevlle, I could see runway lights – this was new! As I turned final, and turned on the landing light, smoke! Then it all made sense, he’d set little fires of gasoline soaked fiberglass insulation in concrete blocks all the way down the runway. In I landed, that began night operations at Pottageville.
The cunning scheme however, was very labour intensive, so we trenched in wires for runway lights. The illuminated runway was 1600’ by 30 feet wide, so not big. We had no electricity service nearby, so a Honda generator powered the runway lights just fine.
One night I was flying his Cessna 206 home (with no working radio), and he was following me in the 182. I saw our runway lights, and landed in no problem. It had been a long day of flying, and I was tired. So after landing, I just sat in the plane, and relaxed for a few minutes. Soon he was overhead, so I knew our day would be complete soon. But, he was just circling, not landing, I was puzzled. As I walked over to my plane, to turn on the radio, to call him and ask what was going on, it occurred to me, the runway lights were out, the generator had run out of gas the moment after I had landed, and I have not noticed. Over the radio, I heard a stream of profanity about getting the runway lights back on. Of course, the gasoline can was empty too, so I had to drain gas from my plane to fill the generator, to get it going again – he orbited. I got the lights on, and he landed. The following week, electricity service was brought in, and an ARCAL box installed.
wleferrand wrote:
When you have to park your car at the end of the runway with the lights on to have an aiming point on takeoff, it’s definitely a little too dark for flying :-)
I have both offered, and received that courtesy over the years. Pottageville aerodrome, from which I used to fly, was visible from my home on the hill nearby at the time. One night we had a power failure, so lights out everywhere, including the runway lights! I saw a friend approaching and searching in complete darkness for the aerodrome (long before GPS). I hustled in my car down to the runway, and parked so as to illuminate it with the headlights. I chose to get out of the car, just in case he blew the approach, and hit my car. He landed without difficulty, appreciative of not having to fly a half hour to an alternate.
@Peter regarding thermal vision, I believe the acrylic windows will block the extension thermal signatures.
I really came close to buying a thermal scope for engine out scenarios at night, but after testing indoors I realized thermal doesn’t make it through windows, so one would need to hold the sensor out of the aircraft somehow.
One reason I’d love to have an experimental would be to mount a thermal camera externally and a screen in the cockpit for night ops.
Just for the walkaround, one thing at the time ;-)
Sadly that landing with car lights story happened already…
https://www.gov.uk/aaib-reports/aaib-investigation-to-reims-cessna-f172n-skyhawk-g-bgsv
Ibra wrote:
I flew but my car battery went flat as I forgot the lights ON
When you have to park your car at the end of the runway with the lights on to have an aiming point on takeoff, it’s definitely a little too dark for flying :-)
How do you find the aircraft in the first place 
?
PS: reminds me of one winter night flight at Stapleford, I flew but my car battery went flat as I forgot the lights ON 
If it was really zero-zero,
Is the visibility ever really zero? Isn’t “zero-zero” just an indication that outside visual references cannot be of use for the maneuver, i.e. take-off or landing?
Peter wrote:
Yeah but in a zero-zero departure you can’t see [much of] the runway ahead.
If it was really zero-zero, then you wouldn’t even be on the runway as you couldn’t taxi.
Yeah but in a zero-zero departure you can’t see [much of] the runway ahead.
