What is night for pilots?

1. Logging night — 14 CFR 1.1

Section 1.1 says: “Night means the time between the end of evening civil twilight and the beginning of morning civil twilight, as published in the Air Almanac, converted to local time.”

That is the default. A rule that says “night” and does not write a different period is using civil twilight. The times come from the Air Almanac, in local time, not from a fixed number of minutes after sunset. Evening civil twilight ends after sunset, and morning civil twilight begins before sunrise, so this period is inside sunset-to-sunrise. In some seasons and latitudes there is no civil-twilight night at all; the Almanac is the source, not a rule of thumb.

Section 61.109(a)(2) requires, except as provided in § 61.110, 3 hours of night flight training in a single-engine airplane that includes one cross-country of over 100 nautical miles total distance and 10 takeoffs and 10 landings to a full stop, each landing involving a flight in the traffic pattern, at an airport. “Night” in that paragraph is the 1.1 definition. Do not log those hours against the passenger-currency clock. A landing that is still in civil twilight is not night under § 1.1. A landing in the first hour after sunset does not meet § 61.57(b) even when evening civil twilight has already ended and the landing is night for the logbook.

2. Position lights — 14 CFR 91.209

Section 91.209(a) does not use the word night for the clock. It says no person may, during the period from sunset to sunrise — or, in Alaska, during the period a prominent unlighted object cannot be seen from a distance of 3 statute miles or the sun is more than 6 degrees below the horizon:

• Operate an aircraft unless it has lighted position lights.
• Park or move an aircraft in, or in dangerous proximity to, a night flight operations area of an airport unless the aircraft is clearly illuminated, has lighted position lights, or is in an area marked by obstruction lights.
• Anchor an aircraft unless it has lighted anchor lights or is in an area where anchor lights are not required on vessels.

Position lights are already required at sunset, which is before evening civil twilight ends and well before the 61.57(b) window opens. Sunset to sunrise is the longest of the three periods in the lower 48 states.

Paragraph (b) is the anticollision-light rule, and it is not tied to sunset. If the aircraft has an anticollision light system, it is lighted during operation unless the PIC determines that safety requires the lights off.

3. Carrying persons — 14 CFR 61.57(b)

Section 61.57(b)(1) says no person may act as pilot in command of an aircraft carrying persons during the period beginning 1 hour after sunset and ending 1 hour before sunrise, unless within the preceding 90 days that person has made at least three takeoffs and three landings to a full stop during that same period, and:

• That person acted as sole manipulator of the flight controls.
• The takeoffs and landings were in an aircraft of the same category, class, and type (if a class or type rating is required).

The regulation says “carrying persons,” not only “passengers.” The parenthetical is “if a class or type rating is required,” not “if a type rating is required.” An airplane single-engine land class rating is a class rating, so the landings are in the same category and class. The type has to match when the aircraft requires a type rating.

Where evening civil twilight ends less than an hour after sunset, which is the usual case in the lower 48 states, this window is the narrowest of the three. It starts after sunset and after evening civil twilight ends, and it ends before sunrise and before morning civil twilight begins. Where civil twilight lasts more than an hour, the passenger-carrying window can open before § 1.1 night begins. The Air Almanac is the comparison, not a fixed number of minutes after sunset.

Section 61.57(e) lists exceptions, including a training flight whose only purpose is to meet paragraphs (a) and (b), when the person receiving the training otherwise meets the requirements to act as PIC and the instructor and that person are the only occupants. Paragraph (e)(6) also says (a) and (b) do not apply to the examiner or the applicant during a practical test required by part 61. Read the exception you think applies; do not assume every dual flight is exempt.

Night operations on the private pilot ACS are Area XI, Task A. Day 12 of the oral checklist is that task. The VFR night fuel reserve, which follows the 1.1 definition of the word night, is on the fuel-minimums page.