Solo night flight
Am I just getting older or do 90 days really go by that fast?
A recent peek in my logbook confirmed my suspicions. I was not legal to fly passengers at night since it had been more than 90 days without logging 3 takeoffs and landings.
On Sunday evening I rented Skyhawk 810SA, a 2003 Cessna 172SP so I could resolve this issue! I decided to toss an instrument approach into the mix and flew the Stinson Airport VOR Runway 32 approach. This provided a seamless means of lining me up for Runway 32 and the tower offered me a straight-in landing since winds were calm.
I thus proceeded to make three night landings. Here are a few notes about each and a quick score using a range of (0 = something’s damaged during the landing and 10 = you landed so softly on the pavement it was like a “butterfly with sore feet”):
Landing One - Rating (8) : Very pleased with my first landing. With the help of the instrument approach, the subsequent straight-in landing and a VASI, my first landing of the night felt great!
Landing Two - Rating (4) : After a full left traffic pattern to land on Runway 14 and without the help of a VASI, I was a tad high on this approach and picked up too much airspeed during the final descent. Result? The typical long float and waaaay too much runway used. Landing was smooth, but ended up taxiing down to the last taxiway . Not a good thing when you’ve got a full 4,000+ feet to work with.
Landing Three - Rating (5) : Returning to San Antonio International Airport I had a nice, four-light PAPI to assist my descent to Runway 30R. During the landing flare, however, I allowed my gaze of the pavement - nicely illuminated by the landing light - to keep my attention too close to the airplane. Result? A decent bump on landing caused by greeting the pavement a bit sooner than I’d anticipated. Good attitude control kept the nose wheel out of this equation so the main gear did their job and I was less than thrilled since I was hoping to end with a real squeaker landing.
All in all it was a wonderful flight. A much needed flight. A full moon, incredibly smooth air and a sea of lights below….
If you haven’t flown at night in awhile, it’s time for you to get reacquainted! Treat night flying with the respect it deserves and do what you can to increase those night flying hours and landings.!
