Night Ratings
A quick overview of the Night Rating
You will need a night rating attached to your licence if you want to fly during the period of time between “evening civil twilight” and “morning civil twilight”.
What does it allow you to do?
If you want to fly between “evening civil twilight “(30 minutes after sunset) and the beginning of “morning civil twilight” (30 minutes before official sunrise), then you need a Night Rating. Please note, the night rating is not an instrument rating and you must follow Night VFR rules.
Flying at night in a light aircraft really needs to be experienced as it’s hard to capture on camera how different the landscape below looks at night.
What are the requirements?
You must have a LAPL/PPL license and be at least 17 years of age in order to obtain an Night Rating.
In addition to the required flight time there is some theoretical topics to cover.
These topics include:
■ Night familiarisation and preparation
■ Night circuits
■ Night navigation
■ Emergency scenarios at night
How long will it take?
The Night Rating requires at least 5 hours of flight time at night, including at least 3 hours of dual instruction, including at least 1 hour of cross-country navigation with at least one dual cross-country flight of at least 50 km (27 NM) and 5 solo take-offs and 5 solo full-stop landings.
What next?
After obtaining a Night Rating you may wish to gain Instrument or Aerobatic qualifications to further increase your license privileges.
