Night Flying

The first brave soul

I took my first passenger (also known as victim or crash test dummy) one evening in April 1996, a few days after getting my private pilot license, in the same 152 that I'd done used for most of my training. That's not a plane built for tall people, but my 6'4" tall friend somehow managed to fit himself into the right seat.

We took the scenic, coastal route to Venice (VNC). I mistimed the flight, since it was still daylight when we landed, and I had hoped to see some of the sunset over the Gulf. Instead, we saw it through the window of the Italian restaurant at the airport, where we had dinner.

It was completely dark when we left, the first time I've done a whole flight at night on my own. I knew the route back fairly well, so it didn't bother me. I found having a passenger to be a big plus; even a non-pilot can help watch for traffic, navigate with a chart, listen for radio calls, etc.

We got back about 11, the first time I've returned to our airport after closing. (The airport itself doesn't close, but the business that rents the planes, sells fuel, etc. does.) We tied the plane down in the grass.

The night the lights went out

One evening about two weeks later, I took a friend for a tour of Tampa Bay. We went south over the bay, southwest over the Skyway Bridge, and then west and north up the Pinellas county coast. I try to make my flights cross country, but since we were sort of flying in a circle, we never got far enough to land 50 miles away. We followed the coast past Pasco County, and turned east over Hernando County to I-75, then back home. It was after 10 pm when we got back.

Previously when I got home after dark, the runway lights were on since there had been other traffic recently. This time they were off. I circled the airport several times, clicking the mike to turn on the lights with no luck. I knew my mike worked because other people responded to my calls, but no other traffic was in the area. I thought my technique was the problem and hoped somebody else might be nearby that could turn the lights on.

Circling the airport, I could see the runway since there was a full moon. I decided to try an approach and see if I was comfortable enough to land. I got close to the runway and could see the blue taxiway lights on my left and the canal on my right. Aiming right between them, once I got down below 100 feet, I could see the runway surface.

When landing at night it helps to look farther down the runway than normal, but without the edge lights I didn't have that option. The landing was OK, and less challenging than it might sound, but if I'd known the lights weren't working, I would have returned before dark, or not flown. My flight instructor told me he wouldn't have tried it.