Flight Training - May 2015 - 38

Night-flight tip: While sectional charts (paper or glass) show minimum safe altitudes, in the age of GPS many pilots are flying
point-to-point direct and aren't using the traditional air routes. A quick way to ensure a safe altitude is to note the maximum elevation
figure (MEF), shown by the large denim blue numbers in the center of each quadrant-the roughly 30-nautical-mile by 30-nautical-mile
grids on the sectional-that your planned route passes through. The MEF is the peak object in the quad: terrain, trees, or man-made,
with a small buffer thrown in for good measure.
Made history to no avail. He failed to catch up to Paulhan, losing a purse
that in today's money would be worth a cool million dollars. But bold or
reckless-or both-the first night flight was no small feat. Grahame-White's
50-horsepower Farman III biplane was more frame than wing and had no
electrical system or lights and no instruments of any kind.
But if a million bucks isn't on the line, why fly at night? Lots of reasons:
Airplanes perform better in the cooler night air; the atmosphere is generally more stable and less turbulent; and the airspace is less crowded. Plus
night flight stretches our capabilities, requires special skills, develops
confidence, and is insanely beautiful.
However, playing in the dark requires different awareness, mindset, technique, gear set, and knowledge of unique regulatory requirements.
YOU AND THE NIGHT. Unlike leopards, bats, owls, badgers, cockroaches, and
the Panamanian night monkey-humans are not nocturnal. We don't see as
far at night, and we have a harder time judging distance and discerning fine
detail.
In fact, part of the human eye can't see at night at all. The "night blind
spot" is a five- to 10-degree diameter circle at the center of your field of
vision that doesn't function in low ambient light. At night it's possible to
not see an object you are staring at directly. Actually, our peripheral vision
is superior for night vision-the exact opposite of daytime, when our best
38 /

FLIGHTTRAINING.AOPA.ORG

vision is dead center and our peripheral
vision is our poorest. Additionally, the
human eyes take 30 to 45 minutes to fully
adapt to darkness after having been in
brightly lit areas.
And if that's not enough, night vision
gets worse with increasing altitude, and it
doesn't take much. The FAA advises the
use of supplemental oxygen at altitudes
above 5,000 feet during night flight to
prevent vision deterioration.
Of course it's not just our eyes we
need to look to for night flight; our
bodies and brains are designed to sleep
when it's dark. This, combined with our
poor night vision, contributes to one of
the greatest dangers of night flight:
optical illusions. Our minds get tricked
and don't properly process what we
are seeing. Optical illusions can lead to
either spatial disorientation or landing
errors.


http://FLIGHTTRAINING.AOPA.ORG

Flight Training - May 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Flight Training - May 2015

Contents
Flight Training - May 2015 - Cover1
Flight Training - May 2015 - Cover2
Flight Training - May 2015 - Contents
Flight Training - May 2015 - 2
Flight Training - May 2015 - 3
Flight Training - May 2015 - 4
Flight Training - May 2015 - 5
Flight Training - May 2015 - 6
Flight Training - May 2015 - 7
Flight Training - May 2015 - 8
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Flight Training - May 2015 - Cover3
Flight Training - May 2015 - Cover4
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