Lesson 7: Flying At Night - Part 1

Welcome back, future pilot! Today, we’ll be talking about the rules for flying your drone in the dark. Let’s get spooky! These next two lessons are all about flying at night. As always, let’s get prepped by defining some key terms first, so that we can know and follow the rules better. Have you heard of Twilight before? And no, not the vampire movie with Bella and Edward.

Twilight is the time of day when the sun is just below the horizon, making the sky look a little bit bright before it gets completely dark at night or fully light in the morning. It's like the sky is saying goodnight or good morning. But twilight can get pretty specific. There are different kinds of them!

Civil Twilight: Civil twilight is the period of time 30 minutes before official sunrise and 30 minutes after official sunset. It happens twice a day, once during the morning and once during the evening. The sunrise - 30 minutes The sunset + 30 minutes Civil Twilight.

Why do we say “official” sunrise or sunset? We say that because the time the sun rises or sets varies a little bit every day – so civil twilight time will too! Do you think it would be lighter or darker outside when it’s civil twilight? It would be darker. Civil Twilight counts as day, and it’s the darkest part of the day.

Part 107 Rules for Flying at Night

Did you know that in the past, drone pilots were not allowed to fly at night and needed to apply for a special waiver, first? The darkest time they could fly was during Civil Twilight. Way too many drone pilots were applying for waivers to fly at night! In fact, they made up about 95% of waiver applications! So in 2021, the FAA decided that flying drones at night was okay and could be safe – if certain safety rules are followed.

So, lucky you! You don’t need to apply for a waiver anymore for night operations. To fly at night, all you need is anti-collision lighting. Planes have them too!

Anti-Collision Lighting

Anti-Collision Lights are bright lights on a drone that help other people and pilots see it from far away, especially in low light or at night. They flash or blink to make the drone more visible and prevent accidents.

Rules for Flying at Night

1. You must fly with anti-collision lights at night, and during civil twilight. Otherwise, you would be breaking the law.

2. Your anti-collision lights need to be seen for at least 3 miles ahead, with a flash rate visible enough to avoid a collision.

3. You can dim your anti-collision lights in the interest of safety, but you’re never allowed to fully turn them off all the way.

Visibility

Besides anti-collision lights, what else does the 3 statute mile (3SM) visibility rule apply to when flying a drone? A) VLOS: Flying your drone beyond the visual line of sight B) Minimum Visibility: Ensuring you can see 3 miles ahead in the sky C) Flying over open-air assemblies D) Registering your drone with the FAA

Dark Adaptation

Dark adaptation is how the human eye adjusts to the dark after being in a lighter environment. It takes about 30 minutes for our eyes to fully adapt to a darker environment after being in the light.

Rods and Cones

Human eyes have ‘rods’ and ‘cones’ to see. Rods help you see in the dark. They are super sensitive to light and can detect black, white, and shades of gray. When you're flying at night, rods help you see in low light conditions, like the stars in the sky or the silhouette of an airplane. Cones help you see color during the day. Cones are cells in your eyes that help you see colors like red, green, and blue. They work best in bright light, like during the day. When it's dark, cones don't work as well, so we rely more on our rods to see.

Nighttime Tips

How long does it take for your eyes to fully adapt to the dark? It takes about 30 minutes.

Anti-Collision Lights on Planes

Night lights on planes serve more than one purpose. For planes, anti-collision lights are also called navigation lights, because they help pilots avoid collision, and they help others see where it’s going. Planes have several lights. They have a white light at the tail and flashing anti-collision lights (rotating beacon lights at the top and bottom) to make the plane visible from far away and in bad weather, and to show the engine’s running. For navigation, each plane has one red light and one green light. Red on the left wing, green on the right wing, and white on the tail to show direction.

Situational Awareness

When we’re flying near an airport or run into something that can be dangerous, we always have to think fast, know what’s going on, and know if and how we should get out the way. If you need help remembering this while you’re taking the test, wear a red bracelet on your left hand and a green bracelet on your right.