Night Flying
The Night Rating allows you to fly during the period of official darkness, which is approximately from one half hour after sunset until one half hour before sunrise. This rating can be very useful in the North, where the daylight hours can be very short. For the Night Rating, you will receive classroom and flight training in instrument flying, navigation at night using charts and radio navigation aids such as VOR and GPS, and aircraft and airport operations during the hours of darkness.
You must have a Private Pilot Licence in order to be night rated. A Recreational Pilot Permit cannot be endorsed for night flying. There is no flight test or written exam for the Night Rating, but you must reach the level of skill specified in the flight instructor standards for the Night Rating.
Ten hours of instrument flight training and ten hours of night flying are required for the Night Rating. Any instrument flight time you logged during your Private Pilot Licence training counts toward the ten hour requirement. Of the ten hours of night flying, a minimum of five hours must be dual instruction and five hours must be solo practice. The solo practice includes at least 10 takeoffs and landings. Included within the five hours of dual instruction are two hours of dual cross-country flight.
Of course up here the Night Rating is best done in Fall, Winter and early Spring. Training can be completed in as little as two weeks. For a person flying three hours per week, expect to complete the training in about eight weeks.
