.5hrs Ground - Night operations and class D airspace
.9hrs - First night lesson and second at a towered airport.
I was really excited about this lesson, as it would be my first night lesson, and one of the very few times I've been in an airplane at night. I had done my homework on night operations, but still wondered what it was actually going to be like.
I performed the preflight, making sure to check all the instrument and overhead lighting, and that I remembered which dimmer operates which lights. We then spent about half an hour talking about tower communications, runway & taxiway markings, airport & aircraft lighting, vision limitations at night, etc.
We departed for HIO (Hillsboro), which is only 6nm north of Twin Oaks, near dark. By the time we left the pattern at Twin Oaks it was time to listen in on ATIS, and then make my call to the tower. ATIS is Automatic Terminal Information Service, and gives weather and runway information. There was not much time to look around, but what I did have a moment here and there to look at was amazing.
We were cleared first to enter left down wind for 30, so I began a turn to the left to swing wide for entering downwind. I was then asked to make a straight in approach, so back to the right. I could easily pick out the runway end identifier lights, but it took me a few seconds to understand the rest of what I was seeing.
On my first approach I was a little high, but pulling out all the throttle, and adding all 30 degrees of flaps brought us down quickly. I began to flare a little early, stopped increasing back pressure for a second or two then continued, and completed a pretty decent touchdown, but off to the left of center. My CFI reminded me that I land on the centerline at narrow Twin Oaks, so there's no reason I shouldn't elsewhere.
Back on the centerline, I cleaned everything up to make it a touch and go, and we were off for right traffic to do it again.
At Hillsboro there is plenty of surrounding town to provide a visual reference to the ground, so it wasn't too bad taking off into the darkness, and I made my way around to right downwind with no problem. At this point I was asked to make a left 360 to allow another aircraft to make a straight in approach. In the dark, making a level 360 degree turn seemed a little more difficult. Maybe due to a lack of distant landmarks. Back on downwind I was a little late on beginning my descent, and on base started to overshoot my turn to final. A very steep bank, demonstrated by my CFI, prevented overshooting final, and I completed landing number two smoothly, and nearer to center.
A quick clean up, and we were off again for one more trip around the pattern at Hillsboro. This landing was a full stop so I could practice receiving taxi instructions, as well as taxi at a more complex airport at night.
We departed Hillsboro, and due to concern for the possibility of fog developing, turned towards Twin Oaks.
Twin Oaks is surrounded mostly by farmland, so it was easy to pick out, and I entered the 45 for downwind. The roads, farms, and nurseries that I've flown over many times were still easily recognizable, but now looked so different in the dark.
As it rolled out of my turn to final, the familiar field and Tualatin river were little more than blackness, and I approached the end of the runway little high, but touched down smoothly, on center.
Fog had yet to develop, so we departed for one trip around the pattern.
Taking off in the dark at Twin Oaks was a strange sensation. There are few lights around, and once in the air and past the end of the runway, the ground beneath and ahead became mostly a black void. I quickly began scanning the instruments as I made the climbing turns to upwind (Twin Oaks is calm wind takeoff on 20, land 02). Once on upwind, I was able to see more distant lights, but still relied on the instruments more than I was used to in the pattern.
I was able to manage the descent better on this final approach, and my altitude remained were it should be, though the touchdown was a bit harder than the rest of the night, but not bad.
Next up is a dual night cross country to CLS (Chehalis-Centralia), about 75nm north
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