Night Rating

G-CBLE before being put through her paces for my solo night flying 

Yes, it seems like a eternity since the last post, but work, moving house and the final year of university have all contributed to make me more ground-bound as opposed to air-bound! 

However, I havnt been away from flying for all this time as I was fortunate enough to be awarded a flight bursary through The Air League in 2014, so I used it to gain a night rating onto my PPL over the winter months. 

Coastline of Bournemouth at night from 1200ft 

The night rating comprised of 5 hours flying to include, a dual (with instructor) night familiarisation flight, a dual cross country navigation exercise, dual circuits and finally 1 hour of solo circuits. 

I decided to conduct my training at a fantastic school at Bournemouth Airport because I wanted to experience flying out of a commercial airport, all good for refining my radio skills and accurate flying. It gave me the opportunity to fly in a new aircraft- Robin HR-200 and lastly because I have aspirations to fly commercially in the future. 

The dual navigation leg was highly interesting and beneficial. We flew from Bournemouth Airport (EGHH) -Blandford Forum-Crewkerne-Dorchester-EGHH over a variety of small settlements each identified by the patterns of lighting they use. The weather needed to be perfect for this-good visibility and high cloud base as it was vital to be in sight of the ground at all times! It made me think about possible areas to land, if for example the engine failed, because without daylight, dark areas on the ground could be water, vegetation, high ground, and that perfect field next to a pub is harder to spot, should the unthinkable happen! 

The night rating will benefit me because I can now fly legally after dark whilst building my flying hours. Secondly it has opened my eyes to flying out of a fully air traffic controlled airport, sharpening my RT ( Radiotelephony) skills and lastly the rating is a pre- requisite before going onto to the CPL ( Commercial Pilots Licence).

Thanks for reading, until next time!