Logging Night Flight Time with Pilot Life

Logging night flight time can be challenging to do manually. However, it’s important to track these hours for the sake of meeting regulatory requirements. In some countries, you may be required to prove your experience in night-time flying in order to carry passengers.

We’ve made it easy to calculate those hours with Pilot Life’s new automatic night flight time logging feature.

Just log into your Pilot Life account, and start your flight in the app. Pilot Life will automatically track every detail of your flight, and parse out the night flight time for you.

What counts as night flight time?

The FAA defines night as the time between the end of evening civil twilight and the beginning of morning civil twilight.

When are morning and evening civil twilight?

FAA civil twilight is measured as a geometric formula between the position of the sun as it relates to the earth. When the sun’s center is 6 degrees below the horizon, that is considered civil twilight. Many people calculate civil twilight as ending 20-35 minutes before sunrise or after sunset, but this isn’t an exact method.

To get accurate numbers, you’ll have to reference a civil twilight calendar, because the time will vary depending on the date and location of your flight.

Why do you need to log night flight time?

Many regulatory flight organizations require pilots to maintain night time flight experience in order to fly at night, particularly with passengers. If your logs don’t show enough night flight experience, you may be unable to carry passengers.

Ready to start automatically logging night flight hours?

Pilot Life makes it easy for pilots around the world to calculate their flight times automatically and now track their night flights. Download the app today, and track your first 10 flights on us.