Definition
The time between the end of evening civil twilight and the beginning of morning civil twilight, as published in the American Air Almanac, converted to local time.
Plain English
The official period of darkness used in aviation rules. It begins after evening twilight ends and finishes when morning twilight begins. The exact times depend on your location and date and are published in an almanac.
Context Anchor
Seen in flight planning, logbook entries, weather and visibility discussions, and rules that depend on whether a flight happened during night.
Derivation
Night comes from Old English “niht,” meaning the dark part of the day. That everyday idea still helps, but aviation makes it more exact by tying night to official twilight times rather than to a pilot’s personal impression of darkness.
Why Pilots Care
Determines when position lights, anti-collision lights, and recent night experience are required, and when night time can be logged toward ratings or currency.
Intuition Check
Do not assume night simply means “after sunset.” In this aviation definition, night begins after evening civil twilight ends and lasts until morning civil twilight begins.
Example Sentence 1
She checked the Air Almanac to confirm that the flight would land before the start of night, since she wasn't current for night passenger operations.
Example Sentence 2
Position lights must be illuminated from sunset to sunrise whenever the aircraft is in operation on the surface or in flight.