obrien135

Does anybody else try to fly at night at a place such as a reasonably well lit shopping plaza? I have tried this quite a few times in the wee hours of the morning and I seem to usually have a crash. This is not good on pavement. I can usually see the plane alright but I seem to lose control when it gets near the ground. Is this something that should generally be avoided?

Rafael23cc

My Feedback: (6)

I have flown helicopters at night. It is a lot easier to maintain orientation due to the contrasting lights installed on the helicopter. As i get close to the ground, the lights illuminate the ground and its easy to see the ground closing from below. Of course, helicopters descend vertically. To aid in ground "Illumination" I've seen people throw glow-sticks on the ground near their intended landing spot.

I have never flown a fixed wing at night, i've seen people do it, but in contrast to your described approach, they also have lights installed on the aircraft. I've even seen lights pointing DOWNWARD activated by radio control to aid in the "ground-closing-in" effect.

If I had to take a guess, you have a poorly lit area to fly and your main problem is the light-dark areas caused by street/parking lighting.

Rafael

jetmech05

You need to be good at landings during the day to start with, because you loose so much of your visual cues. Need to have some bright lights shinning fwd and down. To help light the runway. And good luck

obrien135

I broke the tail section when I lost control on a turn near the ground but I just added some glue and I hope it holds. It still flys well though. Foe a time, I am not going to fly at night, in order to preserve the plane.

obrien135

Do the light poles cause a problem with electromagnetic interference?