Night Rating

martinsvi

anyone done night rating in Ireland recently? Just curious as to how it works for someone working full time in Dublin. As far as I know my options are limited to Shannon, Cork and Waterford. How does one handle it considering the travel time from Dublin - take a week off, book a hotel and hope for the best? or be ready to jump in the car whenever the sky is clear and winds are calm?

Juan Don

I did mine with NFC 2 years ago. We left EIWT just as VFR ended on an IFR flight plan. (Can't fly VFR at night outside a control zone here) Flight was to overhead EINN and then routed to EICK for a touch and go and back to EINN. Did a few touch and gos in EINN followed by a Nav to Ennis and Foynes (staying in the Shannon Zone). Headed back to EINN and the Instructor jumped out. Hit the circuit solo in Einn for some of the best circuits I have ever flown. ATC in the EINN tower are sound and very helpful and you nearly have the place to yourself.
Going solo is one thing but there is something magical about solo flying at night. It wasnt cheap and there are cheaper options out there but it was a great experience and worked for me. I was in contact with the Instructor and once we had a good weather night we went for it. No messing about travelling/driving to Enniskillen or Cork. Stayed in the Radisson at Shannon airport and had some well earned pints of the black stuff afterwards.
Logged the return flight to EIWT as vfr solo so it counts towards your hour building

martinsvi

as of first of July night VFR outside control zone is now legal https://www.iaa.ie/index.jsp?p=100&n=107&a=406&pp=414&nn=599&lID=1126

Sounds like a quite of experience, does that mean you did 5 hours in 1 night? was it not too much?

Juan Don

Yea I did the 5 hours in one go. I thought it would be a bit much but it was grand. Had a sore ar5e and was tired after it alright but was grand when flying.
At this time of year you will probably be wheels up just after 4pm so you will be done an dusted and sitting in the Bar by 9.30-10 PM

Xpro

Get in touch with Waterford aeroclub, they are the cheapest around and you can get it done in day or two. Drive up after work and get it done, no hassles.

Alaba320

I did mine in Waterford as well, spread it over two nights and drove from Dublin (and back). Cant recommend them enough, cheapest option by a long shot, think it was only around €900 at the time, where NFC wanted over €2000!!! Get in touch with them, they do a temporary membership for people only using the club for a few days, think it was €10 per day that you flew.

martinsvi

thanks everyone, I guess I'm on the queue now at Waterford, now to wait for that weather to cooperate .. honestly, I am a bit excited

smurfjed

Out of curiosity, once you get the night rating, where can you use it?

martinsvi

smurfjed wrote: »

Out of curiosity, once you get the night rating, where can you use it?

I presume most people do it as it's a prerequisite for CPL/IR training.

As I wrote in a previous post, night VFR is now allowed across EASA, so nothing stopping you hopping around regional airports at a long winter evening if you're up for it. Would I do it? Probably not, but it gives that extra safety blanket that in case you don't make it in time to your local day-time only airfield and sun goes down on you, you should be competent enough to divert to your closest regional without breaking the law. That is of course if your aircraft has lights

For me it's all about building the skill-set and confidence.. I don't think I'll ever use it intentionally, not in Ireland anyway. I think IAA were strongly against allowing night VFR in uncontrolled airspace as they didn't want "scrape dead bodies off the mountains" and I think that's a very valid concern

smurfjed

Thanks for the explanation, i think that i did all of my single engine night flying in the states, just remember that although you are gaining a valuable skill set, you will have to use it in order to maintain competency.

martinsvi

smurfjed wrote: »

just remember that although you are gaining a valuable skill set, you will have to use it in order to maintain competency.

obviously that makes a lot of sense and I agree with that, however from the law point of view, Night Qualification, as they call it, doesn't have an expiry, unlike IR or class ratings..

to be honest, I don't know what I'll do with it and weather or not I'll go the CPL/IR route, I'll just take one step at the time and see where the life takes me. For now, I just want to enjoy myself and don't worry much about what long term potential any of this has. Maybe I'm sounding a bit childish or irresponsible, but it's very difficult not to go mad when you start thinking about CPL, when every brain cell in your body is screaming against it but the stupid muscle between your chest leads the other direction...

smurfjed

when every brain cell in your body is screaming against it but the stupid muscle between your chest leads the other direction...

We all know that feeling :)

I was lucky as when I did the CPL written's and then the ATPL written's, we didn't have to attend full time ground school or demonstrate that you had studied for a year, so it was a lot easier, and CHEAPER

Alaba320

smurfjed wrote: »

We all know that feeling :)

I was lucky as when I did the CPL written's and then the ATPL written's, we didn't have to attend full time ground school or demonstrate that you had studied for a year, so it was a lot easier, and CHEAPER

You don't have to attend full time ground school. The ATPL Theorectical knowledge can be done by distance learning and you don't need to demonstrate you did it over a year. You have to do a certain amount of hours study (at home) and a certain amount of classroom time, in total at least 650 hours IIRC. Mine took me 10 months while working full time and doing it distance learning.

Xpro

Night rating is great add on. I know it mightn't be as useful in Ireland, but in other EU countries it's there to be used. France is great for that. And If you ever decide to go and do a bit of flying in the US, it will come handy.

logie101

I was interested to read this thread about Night Ratings as I have been considering doing one for fun and upskilling.

(Sorry if this is a stupid question) I have an Irish PPL and was just curious if I can go and complete a night rating in the UK or was considering up in Newtownards.

martinsvi

Assuming it's an EASA licence and the school is approved for the course there should be no problem. After getting the licence you can continue adding qualifications in any EASA country you want. Might take IAA a bit longer to process the paperwork thou