Night landings: All cockpit lights off?!

[Nealius]

I just saw a YouTube video of a Case III night landing, recorded from a GoPro attached to the pilots helmet. As you can see the cockpit appears to be pitch black. The DDIs appear to be off, instrument/panel lighting appears to be off, and the HUD is either off or not visible due to the angle of the camera in relation to the reflector glass. Is it normal for carrier night landings to be done this way, or was the pilot using NVGs?

 

7dG7hsu393U

[joey45]

The DDIs are probably in night mode and the HUD is turned down.

 

Less light emitting from inside the better you can see outside.

 

on ma mobile

[Nealius]

I guess the GoPro just doesn't do low-light well enough to show the DDIs and such.

[antagonist]

You can actually see the pilot has the FCS page open on the right DDI and what appears to be the HSI on the MPCD. The left DDI appears to display the HUD mirror.

[fmedges]

I have a go pro and they don't do well in low light so you probably just cant see the screens.

[Nealius]

I did a rewatch and full screen and could barely see the DDIs. The first time I watched the video I thought it was just typical low-light artifacting.

[Legendofdino]

Based of my memory, naval aviators remove their NVGs up to 10 minutes before landing to acclimate their eyes to the night. Landing is done without NVGs. That’s what the pilots in my squadron told me atleast.

[FZG_Immel]

I zoom on the HUD mainly. because that more like your real FOV IRL