Skip to main content

Night Operations

Night vision​

Cones vs rods at night

Rods vs Cones​

  • Cones: Used for bright light, color vision
  • Rods: Better at detecting movement and vision in dim light. They provide almost no color information

Effectiveness​

  • 30 minutes of avoiding bright lights
  • Above 5000' oxygen use can be very beneficial
  • Move eyes more slowly at night
  • Blink eyes if they are blurry
  • Look off-center at night
  • Use red light for reference in the cockpit

Night Illusions

  • Autokinesis
    • Caused by staring at a single point of light against a dark background
    • After a few seconds the light will appear to move on its own
  • Distant stationary lights
  • Cloud layers can provide false horizons
  • No visual horizon can make IFR-like conditions
  • Flicker vertigo
    • A light flickering at a rate between 4 and 20 cycles per second can produce dangerous reactions
  • Black hole approach
    • Approach with no other visual references other than the runway
    • This often causes you to fly lower than usual
  • Bright approach lights can make it look like you are closer than you actually are

Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge pg. 17-26