Why does the sun rise an hour and a half earlier in Vienna than in Brest on the same clock, and when exactly does night begin for a VFR pilot? This lesson covers solar time, local mean time, UTC, European time zones and summer time, conversions, the date line, and sunrise, sunset and civil twilight.

This is lesson 3 of a free, complete course on PPL(A) navigation theory. Every idea is built up step by step with whiteboard drawings and 3D animations, with worked examples, exam-style quick checks and a cheat sheet at the end. It is for student pilots preparing for the EASA PPL(A) or LAPL theory exam, and for any pilot who wants to understand navigation instead of memorising it.

In this lesson:
• The sun's daily path, and apparent solar time
• Why a sundial and a clock disagree: mean time
• Local mean time and arc-to-time conversion
• UTC: one clock for all of aviation
• Time zones and summer time across Europe
• Converting between local time and UTC
• Why the sun rises earlier further east
• The international date line
• Sunrise, sunset, civil twilight, and the definition of night

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:20 What you'll learn
0:44 The sun's daily path
1:25 Apparent time and mean time
2:12 Local mean time, arc to time
3:21 Quick check 1
3:45 UTC
4:34 Time zones and summer time
6:08 Converting local time and UTC
7:19 Quick check 2
7:46 Further east, earlier sunrise
8:20 Quick check 3
8:51 The date line
9:32 Sunrise, sunset and twilight
10:21 Night and planning
11:53 Quick check 4
12:23 Cheat sheet
13:11 Next lesson

◀ Previous lesson: Great circles, rhumb lines & distance
▶ Next lesson: Directions: true, magnetic and compass north

Tip: pause at each quick check and work it out before the answer appears, and screenshot the cheat sheet for revision.
Always use the current official documents (AIP, charts, aircraft manual) for real flight planning.

Subscribe for the rest of the course: @jogendrafx

#PPL #PilotTraining #UTC #Navigation #EASA