How do pilots see at night during flight?
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In what is called Part 91 operations, which is civil, non-commercial aircraft ops, the FAA does not require an aircraft flying at night by visual flight rules (VFR, which specify minimum visibility and clearance from clouds) to have electronic navigational aids, such as GPS or navigation radios that receive ground-based stations. Here is the list of what the FAA requires on board your aircraft:
[https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/chapter-I/subchapter-F/part-91/subpart-C/section-91.205](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/chapter-I/subchapter-F/part-91/subpart-C/section-91.205)
Most planes are equipped with navigation radios and/or GPS, but many aren’t. Like maybe a Piper Cub. You can legally and practically fly at night without electronic navigation aids.
You do so by plotting off of your charts, knowing the magnetic variation for the area you are flying over, and adjusting for winds aloft, and knowing the speed your aircraft will fly at whatever power setting you will use. This gives you heading to fly for each leg between waypoints, and predicted ground speed. The winds aloft forecasts aren’t perfect, just like any forecast, but they’re pretty close. Since you are flying VFR, you can see towns that are shown on your chart along the way, as they are lit up at night. You keep track of where you are, where you expect to be at any given time along your route, and you adjust your heading (using your compass in the aircraft) and your predicted time to each future waypoint (calculating your ground speed from time elapsed) if you find that you are being blown off your route by winds that are different than forecast. In private pilot training, you’re taught to identify waypoints along your route that will be visually recognizable (e.g., a point between these two towns on the chart, one of which is larger and has a major highway just south of it – that kind of thing). In aviation, these techniques are called pilotage and dead reckoning. Dead reckoning is short for *deductive* reckoning, so the dead part is a little confusing. Maybe at one time it was ded.
Instrument Flight Rules flights are different. An electronic navigation method is required.
Landing lights guide the way while they’re landing, taxi lights guide the way while they’re taxiing. They also have lights on the landing gear or wings for when they’re on the ground. Other than that, once they’re in the air, seeing where they’re going is a nice to have but not necessary.
Eyeballs.
You’d be amazed at how well you can see when your eyes adjust. I actually prefer it as the biggest hazard is other aircraft and you can see them much better and more distant at night.
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