Flying at night

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Cory S. M. Hinch

Filing Flight Plan
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hinch-man
What type of planes can’t fly at night? Why is this? I was thinking about getting a Cherokee 6 but I found out that some aircraft is only able to be flown during the day time. What are the defining factors that control this based off of regulation?
 
Position lights.

You will find a lot of aircraft without electrical systems do not have position lights.
 
we owned a Cherokee 6 and flew it a lot at night. Loved it. Nice and stable. I don't think there was any 6 that does not have an electrical system.
 
Cory S. M. Hinch said:
What type of planes can’t fly at night? Why is this? I was thinking about getting a Cherokee 6 but I found out that some aircraft is only able to be flown during the day time. What are the defining factors that control this based off of regulation?
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I doubt that plane left the factory day only. It must be missing something, something that should get fixed.

FLAPS is the acronym for night required equipment.

F – Fuses (1x complete set unless the plane has circuit breakers)
L – Landing Lights (if flying for hire)
A – Anti Collision Lights (for aircraft registered after August 11, 1971)
P – Position Lights (aka nav lights)
S – Source of Power (i.e. alternator/generator for all electrical and radio equipment)
 
Cory S. M. Hinch said:
What type of planes can’t fly at night? Why is this? I was thinking about getting a Cherokee 6 but I found out that some aircraft is only able to be flown during the day time. What are the defining factors that control this based off of regulation?
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Airplanes without electrical systems and required lighting can't fly at night, but I don't think a Cherokee 6 would be anywhere close to that.
 
Greg Bockelman said:
Wow! One more mnemonic out of hundreds that are aviation related that I will never remember.
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...nor even want to.
ateamer said:
Many of those mnemonics aren’t anything that need to be committed to memory. Just look at the equipment list or the FARs to find out if the plane is good to go.
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I used to periodically do a survey, asking a dirt-simple equipment airworthiness question. My unscientific sample consisting of over 10 years of online forums and flight reviews indicated that those who learned the 91.205 mnemonics were more likely to get it wrong than those who didn't. My all-time favorite wrong answer was, "If it's not in [most hated mnemonic], you're good to go!" That was from a CFI!!!!

Second most favorite mnemonic event was the DPE who complained that I hadn't taught the mnemonics to my student (who passed with flying colors, especially after he was the only one who figured out the airplane had been out of annual for months). The DPE is in prison now.
 
There are also LSA - even super high tech ones - which can't fly at night. In many cases is a lack of position lights as @Clip4 said. I can't recall which it was, but with one, the issue was that it had position lights but none could be seen from behind the airplane.
 
midlifeflyer said:
There are also LSA - even super high tech ones - which can't fly at night. In many cases is a lack of position lights as @Clip4 said. I can't recall which it was, but with one, the issue was that it had position lights but none could be seen from behind the airplane.
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The PiperSport had that problem. The aft facing rear lights were on the wingtip, but the wingtip was swept outwards and blocked the visibility of the light from the rear.
 
midlifeflyer said:
Second most favorite mnemonic event was the DPE who complained that I hadn't taught the mnemonics to my student (who passed with flying colors, especially after he was the only one who figured out the airplane had been out of annual for months). The DPE is in prison now.
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Correlation does not equal causation, but they often go together. :)
 
I know you're early in your journey and new to aviation. But really make sure there's nothing that would disqualify you from obtaining a medical. The FAA can be rather rigid on things.
 
midwestpa24 said:
F – Fuses (1x complete set unless the plane has circuit breakers)
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Depends what you mean by "complete set." You can either get by with one spare for each or three spares of any particular kind in use.
L – Landing Lights (if flying for hire)
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Singular. One electric landing light.
A – Anti Collision Lights (for aircraft registered after August 11, 1971)
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The registration date has no bearing on anything. The light is required regardless of how old the airplane is. The only thing that changed on August 11 was that the standards got more rigorous. And that date is the date of the type certification, not the registration of any particular aircraft.
S – Source of Power (i.e. alternator/generator for all electrical and radio equipment)
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You're either mistaken on the FAR or Latin. You need a source of power. That might be (e.g., would be the more appropriate abbreviation) a generator or alternator, but a battery of sufficient capacity to last through the flight would be acceptable.
 
flyingron said:
Depends what you mean by "complete set." You can either get by with one spare for each or three spares of any particular kind in use.

Singular. One electric landing light.

The registration date has no bearing on anything. The light is required regardless of how old the airplane is. The only thing that changed on August 11 was that the standards got more rigorous. And that date is the date of the type certification, not the registration of any particular aircraft.

You're either mistaken on the FAR or Latin. You need a source of power. That might be (e.g., would be the more appropriate abbreviation) a generator or alternator, but a battery of sufficient capacity to last through the flight would be acceptable.
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Jesus it was a cut and paste from somewhere else. Nice job picking nits. The point was these are the five items required for night flight all of which a Cherokee 6 should have, per the OPs post.
 
midwestpa24 said:
Jesus it was a cut and paste from somewhere else. Nice job picking nits. The point was these are the five items required for night flight all of which a Cherokee 6 should have, per the OPs post.
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He's just pointing out the limitations of a stupid mnemonic which is in some ways inaccurate, acts as a poor substitute for rote learning, and makes some pilots think that's all that's required.

My favorite is fuses. Your paste says "unless breakers." But that's always the case. I had a night flight with a student who came across the mnemonic (guaranteed not from me) and spent at least 5 minutes on his preflight before asking, "OK, where are the spare fuses?"
 
I am just here to post recent night time flying pictures.
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