jtpitkin06
12-30-2011, 01:56 PM
Subject: Sport Pilot flying at night with a PPL safety pilot.
Question:
“It sounds like from what has been written on this thread I will be Ok to use [position lights] on my experimental at night if I have a full private pilot in the plane (I myself will only have a sport pilot cert). Is my thinking correct?”Jim
Answer
Jim,
The answer is a definite “maybe”.
Sport Pilot Privileges do not include night flying. So, to fly at night you must take along a Private Pilot or higher. The PPL holder is the pilot in command.
The PPL, in order to carry you as a passenger, must be current for night landings in the same category (airplanes) class (single engine –land) and endorsed for tail wheel if your aircraft is a tail-dragger. In addition, if it is a tailwheel airplane the PPL must be current in tailwheel landings performed to a full stop. The tailwheel landings do not have to be at night.
So if your PPL is
Current - night landings
Current - airplane single engine
Current - tailwheel (if it applies)
Has a tailwheel endorsement (unless the PPL flew tailwheel prior to April 15, 1991 like us old fogies.)
Has a BFR logged
Has at least a third class medical
Then you are good to go!
when flying at night with a safety pilot, you may log as PIC all of the time you are the sole manipulators of the controls of an aircraft for which you are rated and log it as night time to use for additional ratings. This is the one case you can legally log night PIC as a Sport or Recreational Pilot, without an instructor on board.
If the safety pilot is an instructor, he or she may log also log the entire flight as PIC even though the instructor never touches the controls. Yes… two pilots can log PIC at the same time if one is an instructor.
John Pitkin
Question:
“It sounds like from what has been written on this thread I will be Ok to use [position lights] on my experimental at night if I have a full private pilot in the plane (I myself will only have a sport pilot cert). Is my thinking correct?”Jim
Answer
Jim,
The answer is a definite “maybe”.
Sport Pilot Privileges do not include night flying. So, to fly at night you must take along a Private Pilot or higher. The PPL holder is the pilot in command.
The PPL, in order to carry you as a passenger, must be current for night landings in the same category (airplanes) class (single engine –land) and endorsed for tail wheel if your aircraft is a tail-dragger. In addition, if it is a tailwheel airplane the PPL must be current in tailwheel landings performed to a full stop. The tailwheel landings do not have to be at night.
So if your PPL is
Current - night landings
Current - airplane single engine
Current - tailwheel (if it applies)
Has a tailwheel endorsement (unless the PPL flew tailwheel prior to April 15, 1991 like us old fogies.)
Has a BFR logged
Has at least a third class medical
Then you are good to go!
when flying at night with a safety pilot, you may log as PIC all of the time you are the sole manipulators of the controls of an aircraft for which you are rated and log it as night time to use for additional ratings. This is the one case you can legally log night PIC as a Sport or Recreational Pilot, without an instructor on board.
If the safety pilot is an instructor, he or she may log also log the entire flight as PIC even though the instructor never touches the controls. Yes… two pilots can log PIC at the same time if one is an instructor.
John Pitkin