Is a PPL(H) license enough to fly at night?

No. A private license only entitles you to daytime flying. VFR flights after sunset require a separate rating entered into your license, earned by completing a course at an ATO.

How many hours do you need to fly for the Night VFR Rating?

The programme covers 5 hours of theory and 5 hours of night flying, including a minimum of 3 hours with an instructor and 5 solo takeoffs and landings. The regulations set these as minimums, so a pilot returning after a long break from flying should expect a few extra flights.

Does the night rating end with a state exam?

There's no practical skill test before an examiner. The course ends with completion of the ATO's programme and a training completion certificate, on the basis of which the authority enters it into your license.

How much does Night VFR helicopter training cost?

The base of the cost is five hours of night flying on the chosen type, plus the theoretical part, airfield fees for after-dark operations, and the fee for entering the rating into your license. Since training runs in short evening sessions, the final amount is also affected by how many flights get cancelled due to weather. We send a specific quote after you get in touch.

Does the Night VFR Rating need to be renewed?

The entry itself doesn't expire the way a type rating does. Current practice still applies, though: a pilot flying passengers at night needs to have logged the recent night takeoffs and landings required by the regulations.

Which helicopter is the night training done on?

On the type you're already rated on. If you want to fly at night on a new helicopter type, you'll first need training on that type.

Night VFR Rating, night helicopter flying (Night Rating)

After sunset, a plain PPL(H) license stops being enough. The Night VFR Rating, described in EASA regulations as the Night Rating, lets a helicopter pilot legally take off, navigate and land after dark under visual flight rules. The course is short, but it changes how you work in the cockpit: most ground references disappear and the instruments take over. We run it at Radom-Piastów airport, at our ATO training centre.

What the Night VFR entry gives you in practice

In the depths of winter, the sun in central Poland sets before four in the afternoon, and daytime flying time runs out soon after. Without a night rating, a flight in November or December has to wrap up by early afternoon, often on a day when the weather finally turns good after weeks of waiting. The rating pushes that boundary back and lets you plan departure and return around your own schedule, not around sunrise and sunset tables.

Once you hold the rating, you fly night VFR flights as pilot in command, including with passengers, on any helicopter types covered by your ratings. Landing after dark no longer means an overnight stay away from base. One separate rule still applies: current practice requires that a pilot carrying passengers at night has logged the required recent night takeoffs and landings within the period set by the regulations.

Who the Night VFR Rating is for

This is usually a private pilot's first step after earning their license. If you fly helicopters for recreation, sooner or later a return flight will run past sunset, and without the night rating you simply won't be able to take off. The course extends your operational day, most noticeably from October to March.

It also makes sense for pilots thinking about a professional path. Night hours are required for a commercial license and for instrument flight training, so it's easier to build them up calmly than under time pressure later.

What the night training covers

The course consists of 5 hours of theoretical training and 5 hours of practical night flight training. The theory doesn't repeat PPL(H) material, it focuses on what works differently at night: night VFR minima, radiation fog, airfield and obstacle lighting, route planning with a fuel margin, and visual illusions.

The practical part starts with circuits with an instructor, until altitude judgement stops relying on daytime habits. Night navigation follows. Within these five hours, per EASA requirements, you need a minimum of 3 hours of flight with an instructor, including one hour of cross-country navigation covering at least 50 kilometres, plus 5 solo takeoffs and landings at night.

How long the course takes and how it ends

In favourable weather, the training wraps up in a few sessions spread over two or three weeks. Regulations allow 6 months from the start of the course, and that margin is sometimes needed, since a low cloud base can wipe out a planned evening.

Unlike a license or a type rating, the Night VFR Rating doesn't end with a practical skill test before an examiner. Completion is confirmed by finishing the ATO's programme and receiving a certificate, on the basis of which the authority enters the rating into your license.

What drives the cost of the night course

Night sessions are short, and there are usually only a few evening slots available each week, so the final cost mainly depends on the type you fly and how many times the weather cooperates with your booked slot. On top of flight hours, there's the theoretical part, airfield fees for after-dark operations, and the official fee for entering the rating into your license. We put together a quote for the specific aircraft and planned timing after you get in touch.

Night VFR training at Heli Solution, Radom-Piastów

We operate as an EASA-compliant Approved Training Organisation (ATO), based at Radom-Piastów airport. You fly the night sessions on the same type you're already rated on, from light piston helicopters to turbine aircraft, and we've described the full training fleet on our Fleet page. We schedule dates around the weather window and the candidate's availability, since evening slots are fewer than daytime ones.

Course programme

5 hours of theory: night VFR minima, night meteorology, airfield and obstacle lighting, flight planning, visual illusions, emergency procedures
5 hours of practical flight training carried out at night
at least 3 hours of flight with an instructor, including one hour of night navigation with a cross-country leg of at least 50 km
5 solo takeoffs and landings at night
takeoffs, approaches and landings in the circuit with runway lighting
maintaining spatial orientation using onboard instruments
pre-flight briefing and post-flight debrief
documentation for entering the Night Rating into your license

After the course and the license entry, you fly VFR flights at night as pilot in command, on the types covered by your ratings. Night hours count toward the experience required for a CPL(H) and for IR training.

Frequently asked questions

Is a PPL(H) license enough to fly at night?: No. A private license only entitles you to daytime flying. VFR flights after sunset require a separate rating entered into your license, earned by completing a course at an ATO.
How many hours do you need to fly for the Night VFR Rating?: The programme covers 5 hours of theory and 5 hours of night flying, including a minimum of 3 hours with an instructor and 5 solo takeoffs and landings. The regulations set these as minimums, so a pilot returning after a long break from flying should expect a few extra flights.
Does the night rating end with a state exam?: There's no practical skill test before an examiner. The course ends with completion of the ATO's programme and a training completion certificate, on the basis of which the authority enters it into your license.
How much does Night VFR helicopter training cost?: The base of the cost is five hours of night flying on the chosen type, plus the theoretical part, airfield fees for after-dark operations, and the fee for entering the rating into your license. Since training runs in short evening sessions, the final amount is also affected by how many flights get cancelled due to weather. We send a specific quote after you get in touch.
Does the Night VFR Rating need to be renewed?: The entry itself doesn't expire the way a type rating does. Current practice still applies, though: a pilot flying passengers at night needs to have logged the recent night takeoffs and landings required by the regulations.
Which helicopter is the night training done on?: On the type you're already rated on. If you want to fly at night on a new helicopter type, you'll first need training on that type.