Night XC Landmarks

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obelix

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obelix
Anyone have any insight on picking landmarks for night XC. The regular stuff might not be seen so easy. Would like to hear what's worked well for others here.

I'm thinking the easy picks are other airports, VOR checkpoints, some lakes/rivers if the moon is out, big highways (street lights that line them).
 
I have found that in bigger cities, airports can be harder to pick out than other landmarks. One thing you will find is that airports tend to be the dark areas surrounded by lots of city lights. If you are trying to identify the airport, look for the patch of darkness with a rotating beacon.

I tend to use known street intersections, shopping malls, downtown high-rise areas, but the only time I tend to fly VFR at night is in the local area. I'm probably 95% IFR when flying at night.
 
I flew last night and the airport Beacons seemed to be the easiest to identify. When I fly during the day I always try to make a mental note of the highways near those beacons (Airports) so I'll know better for night flying.
 
It all depends where you are.
 
Know which "islands of light" are which cities.
This is why the yellow highlighting on the sectional.

The yellow highlighting is supposed to be the shape the lights make at night.
 
When I did my night XC, I was advised to use towers and stacks that have red lights at the top. They should be easy to spot. They will be on the sectional.
 
orange said:
When I did my night XC, I was advised to use towers and stacks that have red lights at the top. They should be easy to spot. They will be on the sectional.
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Unless of course they are notam'd unlit.
 
Think of it as flying over the ocean and the yellow areas on the charts are islands, also lit airports are always great, I like messing with the lights as I fly past them.
 
Highways intersections, Bridges, refineries, amusement parks, paper mills. Towns with unique geography, such on fronting a body of water, so you can pick out defining features.
 
The problem I've had with lighting up an airport is that sometimes even that doesn't work very well. If you aren't lined up with a rwy, they can sometimes be hard to see.

On one night XC I had problems with distance estimation. I was looking for a particular airport beacon, I knew where it should be, and then I saw it. But what I actually saw was a different airport, quite a few miles in the distance (out in rural KS). For some reason, I saw that one first and fixated on it, and didn't see the one that now had passed under my nose. Something didn't seem right, though, and eventually I figured it out. Night navigation without GPS can be fun.
 
Before night flights, I make it a habit to make sure I know where the airport beacon is on the field. It can really help identify where the runways are.
 
Airport beacons can be seen from ridiculous distances. I once spotted Bishop (KBIH) once while climbing out WEST of Palmdale in the jumpseat of a 747. That's over 100 miles. It's unmistakeable, as it's the only thing out there in that direction. It's probably not possible from less than FL200 due to intervening terrain.

Runway lights aren't so easy to spot, unless the airport has REIL's.

Highways work IF they are busy. An empty highway is much harder to spot and identify, especially if the lighting is poor. Lots of car headlights help. A lot.

Cities, lit obstructions, etc. work fine. Just remember that you can see A LOT further at night, and the cities will appear much closer than they would in the daytime.
 
Use aviation fixes, radials from VORs, t.ower clusters, etc. For the most part, I just stick with ENav fixes and treat night flights like IFR. It's faster and easier than trying to plan a. VFR Ded-rec route for a night flight.
 
Obelix, you did not specify which part of the country (which usually helps).
But do not overlook power plants, factories, refineries etc. Those are easy to pick out due to their often unusual profiles and plenty of lighting at night.
 
BigBadLou said:
Obelix, you did not specify which part of the country (which usually helps).
But do not overlook power plants, factories, refineries etc. Those are easy to pick out due to their often unusual profiles and plenty of lighting at night.
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I'm north east Atlanta (lake lanier). Probably will be flying in areas in a direction of 90 to 180 from here..
 
Fearless Tower said:
At night.
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In the dark!!! Sounds spooky..

Another question, maybe a stupid one, but how can you be assured when you are descending to TPA that you're not going to hit some object, assuming that TPA is lower than MEF? I'm assuming radio towers would be fairly easy to see, but it seems a little spooky..
 
obelix said:
In the dark!!! Sounds spooky..

Another question, maybe a stupid one, but how can you be assured when you are descending to TPA that you're not going to hit some object, assuming that TPA is lower than MEF? I'm assuming radio towers would be fairly easy to see, but it seems a little spooky..
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Look at the sectional for surrounding obstacle heights and plan your arrival in advance. Or you could pull up an instrument approach for the airport and follow that for your arrival (what I would do).
 
Matthew said:
On one night XC I had problems with distance estimation. I was looking for a particular airport beacon, I knew where it should be, and then I saw it. But what I actually saw was a different airport, quite a few miles in the distance (out in rural KS). For some reason, I saw that one first and fixated on it, and didn't see the one that now had passed under my nose. Something didn't seem right, though, and eventually I figured it out. Night navigation without GPS can be fun.
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Been there done that ....:blush:
 
lighted antennas, lighted airports with rotating beacons (remember they almost always have pilot-controlled lighting so you'll have to activate the runway lights yourself as you get close), major highways with enough cars to see, city lights
 
With HID landing lights, you should be able to read the town's name on the water tower......
 
MikeELP said:
:yes:

Flying out here in the desert, many of the "landmarks"...including mountains :eek: that are very visible during the day aren't quite so visible at night.
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Fly a moon-less night to Van Horn following I-10 will get you a great case of auto-kinesis from the stars during descent ... ask me how I know :lol::mad2:
 
I am really familar with a good part of the state and usually know where about I am with just a quick scan out the window. However one time for some reason I got all discombobulated. Things just didn't look right. Few minutes of using compass and thinking about it all was good. But if all else fails just ask closest center where your at. They will have you squack a code and identify and tell you exactly where you are.
 
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