I have always liked driving the car at night. Generally there is less traffic, the air is always cooler and, unless I am really tired, the lights of the vehicles in the other direction never really bother me much. But when my instructor proposed a first cross-country flight at night, I got a little worried. The idea of staring at a windshield filled with pitch black void was a little frightening, I have to admit. However, the actual experience a week later converted me forever. Sure, night flying is a bit more serious stuff than the usual around-the-pattern practice. There is more careful planning involved, but it is just so rewarding. Flying over an uninhabited area fills the screen with so many stars that a city boy like me has hardly ever seen it feels like flying a starship to another solar system. Flying over or near a large city transforms the grey and uniform spread of concrete of alternating parking lots and housing developments into a wonderful show of lights it's like Christmas as far as the eye can see. Turns out, the screen is never really dark. It's a big show and it is on every night.