Why early morning flying is preferred?

As a flight school owner and Deputy Chief Flying Instructor, I often get asked why pilots and students love flying early in the morning. While I always remind students that to become a better pilot you need to practice in all sorts of conditions, the fact is, the most enjoyable time to fly is usually between 6am and 9am. The main reasons? It’s cooler; the wind is usually calm and the air feels smooth as silk.

But why is it so calm in the mornings? This is because overnight, the ground cools quickly and chills the thin layer of air close to it, creating a temperature inversion. This stable layer stops stronger synoptic winds above, from mixing with the air down near the surface, so it’s not uncommon to take off in still air on the ground, only to find 20–30 knot winds only a few hundred feet above. Because the ground is still cool in the early mornings, there’s no thermal convection either, which means very little turbulence. If the winds above are also light, the flying can be glassy smooth.

Understanding how large-scale weather systems interact with local geography is a key part of flight training. For more insights about weather, you can watch our interview with weather presenter, Gary Youngberry, on our GoFly Online training platform: https://gofly.online/Video/interpreting-weather-charts/.

Financial RAAus members who sign up using their RAAus membership number will have access to a number of FREE videos in the following series which would normally require a subscription to GoFly Online:

• Recreational Pilot Certificate (pre-flight and inflight lessons and quizzes)
• Recreational Cross Country Endorsement  (pre-flight and inflight lessons and quizzes)
• PL/PPL/CPL Navigation Training
• Electronic Flight Bag (including OzRunways and AvPlan)
• Controlled Airspace endorsement
• RAAus Instructor Rating 
• Performance, Weight and Balance
• RPL/PPL Training
• Cirrus SR20
• Aerobatics
• Maintenance 

These perfect conditions don’t last long. Once the sun heats the ground, the inversion layer breaks down, the stronger winds above start mixing with it, and convection creates bumps. By around 10am the synoptic wind has made its way to the ground, and the wind and thermal activity is less forgiving for beginners.

For flight schools near the coast, there’s another factor: the sea breeze. As the land warms at a faster rate than the ocean, the cooler, denser air over the sea is drawn inland to replace the warmer less dense air, often bringing a noticeable change in wind direction and strength by late morning or midday.

This is why many flight schools prefer students to fly early when practicing circuits or preparing for their first solo. The calm air makes learning easier, and it’s more enjoyable. I don’t always love waking up early, but I do love flying early.

A similar pattern – only in reverse – can also happen late in the afternoon, as the ground cools, but this is usually never as good as early mornings. Once a student has done their first solo it is normal for their instructors to want them to fly later in the day so they can also get used to flying in windy conditions.

In addition to those videos which are usually subscription-only, RAAus members also have access to all the FREE content on the site, which includes:

• GoFly Fix: Short videos about dealing with unexpected situations
• Flight School and Taking Flight: two series about learning to fly and the type of lessons that RPC and nav students will undertake
• Pilot Interviews: for career advice and to help students become a better pilot
• GoFly Outbound: visits to the QLD Air Museum, Jabiru Factory and a range of Australian aerodromes
• Test Flights and Demos: videos about the design features and test flights in a range of unique aircraft
• AvPlan: how to set up and use the AvPlan electronic flight bag
• Documentaries: a growing collection of aviation docos from around the world

If all this aviation content leaves you wanting more, you can access all the RPC, Nav, Passenger, RPL, PPL, RAA Instructor Rating plus practical and theory quiz content for FREE, by signing up for the 7-day trial!