Beneath a Sturgeon Moon

Back Pocket Night Currency

Photo taken looking toward the departure end of runway 28 at the Williamson Sodus Airport.

Date	Aircraft	Route of Flight	Time (hrs)	Total (hrs)
26 Aug 2026	N21481	SDC (Sodus, NY) - FZY (Fulton, NY) - 0G7 (Seneca Falls, NY) - SDC	1.5	3226.2

A nearly full moon shone down over the darkened Earth like a spotlight hung from celestial rigging. I tugged Warrior 481 out of the hangar an hour after sunset, hangar lights off as my eyes acclimated to questionable nighttime "darkness" in which shadows followed my movement across the ramp.

The legal concept of night currency requires three takeoffs and landings to a full stop within 90 days conducted between one hour past sunset and one hour before sunrise in order to legally carry passengers during the same timeframe. Like any other FAA notions of currency, it is a legal minimum that guarantees some recent experience, but does not assure proficiency. Nonetheless, I was due and night currency becomes increasingly relevant as the days shorten going into autumn.

Rush is a Great Band, but a Poor Philosophy for Flying

Night flying and instrument flying both posses currency requirements, but I think about them differently. I strive to stay instrument current and proficient because I use the instrument rating regularly and consider the ability to legally file an instrument flight plan to be necessary for much of my flying. 

For me, night flying falls into a different category than IFR flying because my intentions around night flying are different. While I often fly IFR with passengers (e.g., compassion flights where it is required regardless of weather), it is rare that I intentionally take passengers aloft at night. While I have always enjoyed the different perspective, calmer air, reduced traffic, and minimal radio chatter of nighttime, it is not my preference to exposure passengers to the added risk of darkness that can exacerbate an in-flight emergency. (To be fair, I have taken passengers up at night in the past, but my perspective on the risks of night flying has evolved over the years.) 

Unlike IFR currency that I use regularly, I consider night currency to be a back pocket insurance item. It is something to rely on if a flight with passengers goes late and extends too far past nightfall. Being night current takes time pressure off of those flights. This is important because when pilots feel pressured for time, they rush. When pilots rush, they make mistakes. Besides, the stressful futility of chasing the setting sun simply drains the flying experience of any fun.

Not to be Confused with the Second Nolan Batman Movie

In a past article, I differentiated the concepts of "night" from "dark nights" ("Flashback: The Dark Night"). There is a tremendous difference in the night flying experience with a full moon on a winter night with reflective snow blanketing the landscape versus a truly dark night without the moon or even visible stars. The latter is far more challenging and much more like an instrument flight than the former. As a result, I usually practice on dark nights for the added challenge.

Within moments of taking this photo, the wind aloft swept away this apparition.

This was no dark night. I stood on the ramp, looked to the sky, watched the ghostly clouds morph in the higher winds aloft. It was much too beautiful not to fly.

Because of the ongoing deer problem at the Williamson-Sodus Airport, I do the majority of my night landings at other airports. On this night, I chose to do a round robin flight from Sodus to Oswego County Airport (KFZY) to Finger Lakes Regional Airport (0G7) and back to Sodus. With 30+ knot winds aloft at 3,000 feet, the evening provided excellent practice in navigating and tracking courses, flying rectangular traffic patterns in the wind, and assessing my ability to land well at night. All of my landings were excellent and I judged my proficiency level to be high. Not bad considering that nighttime only accounts for 5% of my logged hours (161.8 / 3226.2).

While cruising at 3,000 feet between the Oswego County Airport and Finger Lakes Regional, hand flying a heading crabbed nearly 15 degrees into the wind to achieve the desired track, I was suddenly startled by a bright flash from below. It was as though I was caught in the beam of a World War II era anti-aircraft searchlight. But it was nothing manmade at all, merely the moon reflected in a small pond below from just the right angle. As far as the eye could see, a greyscale world revealed its contours and elevations through reflected moonlight, if not so brilliantly as the pond.

My final landing at Sodus was as near to perfect as I could have hoped and I taxied back to my hangar thoroughly satisfied with the beautiful evening spent flying under the Sturgeon Moon. For pushing the Warrior back into the barn, I turned the hangar lights back on and noted that the moon above still outshone them. It was another successful night flight in the logbook with currency maintained and proficiency verified, simultaneously a worthwhile workout and a beautiful evening to be aloft.