SMA LANDS WITHOUT CLRNC IN A NIGHT OP.

Narrative

I DROPPED OFF MY INST INSTRUCTOR AT N PERRY (HWO) ARPT AFTER A 300+ MI XCOUNTRY IFR TRAINING FLT. I DEPARTED N PERRY ARPT SHORTLY THEREAFTER AT ABOUT XA30 PM TO RETURN THE PLANE TO FT LAUDERDALE EXECUTIVE (FXE) ARPT; THE PLANE'S HOME BASE WHERE I RENT. AFTER OBTAINING A CLRNC AND TRANSITING NBOUND THROUGH THE FT LAUDERDALE-HOLLYWOOD INTL (FLL) ARSA; THE FLL TWR CTLR TERMINATED ARSA SVC AND GAVE ME PERMISSION TO CONTACT THE FT LAUDERDALE EXECUTIVE TWR (FXE). MY RECOLLECTION OF THE RADIO CONVERSATION WITH FXE TWR AND MYSELF FOLLOWS: PLT - 'EXECUTIVE TWR; ABOUT 7 MI SW; AT 1000; INBOUND FOR LNDG.' FXE TWR: (GAVE ALTIMETER SETTING; WINDS; ACTIVE RWY; AND SAID TO RPT 1 MI FINAL.) PLT: 'PLEASE SAY ACTIVE RWY.' FXE TWR: '8 IS ACTIVE.' PLT: 'VERIFY RWY 8 IS ACTIVE.' (I QUERIED THE TWR AGAIN; BECAUSE TO ME THE CTLR'S PRONUNCIATION OF THE WORD 'EIGHT' SOUNDED LIKE 'EH.' I WAS WEARING A HEADSET.) FXE TWR: NO RESPONSE. (SINCE THE TWR DIDN'T OBJECT; I ASSUMED RWY 8 WAS CORRECT; ESPECIALLY SINCE THE ONLY OTHER RWYS ARE 26; 13; AND 31 AND THESE DON'T SOUND LIKE 'EH'.) THE TWR FREQ WAS SILENT FOR THE NEXT 5 MINS OR SO; THE TIME IT TOOK TO INTERCEPT THE BASE LEG FOR RWY 8 AND LAND. BEING LATE ON A SAT NIGHT; IT WAS VERY SLOW AT THE ARPT. AFTER LNDG; I STOPPED PAST THE TAXIWAY HOLD LINES READY TO CONTACT GND CTL. FXE TWR (ON THE TWR FREQ): '...BE ADVISED THAT YOU FAILED TO RPT 1 MI FINAL. BE ADVISED THAT YOU LANDED WITHOUT A CLRNC. BE ADVISED THAT YOUR NAV LIGHTS ARE INOP AND ARE REQUIRED BY REG FOR NIGHT FLT.' PLT: 'ROGER; TWR. MY NAV LIGHTS WERE WORKING SHORTLY BEFORE; I'LL CYCLE THE SWITCH AGAIN. I JUST TURNED OFF THE STROBE AFTER PULLING OFF THE RWY.' (I VISUALLY CHKED TO MAKE SURE I HAD THE NAV SWITCH AND PUSHED IT OFF AND PULLED IT BACK ON. I ALSO DON'T NORMALLY OPERATE THE STROBE LIGHT ON THE GND.) 'DO YOU SEE MY NAV LIGHTS NOW?' FXE TWR: 'NEGATIVE.' PLT: 'DO YOU SEE MY LNDG LIGHT.' FXE TWR: 'YES; HOWEVER A LNDG LIGHT IS NOT SUFFICIENT FOR NIGHT FLT.' PLT: 'ROGER; I'LL TURN ON THE STROBE LIGHT.' I TURNED ON THE STROBE LIGHT; WHICH WAS IN FINE WORKING ORDER. I THEN CONTACTED GND CTL AND TAXIED TO THE RAMP. AFTER STOPPING THE ENG; I LEFT THE MASTER SWITCH ON AND GOT OUT OF THE AIRPLANE. I WALKED AROUND THE AIRPLANE AND SAW THE RED AND GREEN WING TIP LIGHTS BURNING BRIGHTLY. THE AIRPLANE HAS A STROBE LIGHT ON THE VERT STABILIZER INSTEAD OF A RED ROTATING BEACON OR WHITE POS LIGHT. I BELIEVE THE FOLLOWING WERE FACTORS IN THIS ERROR: A) THE INITIAL QUESTIONING FOR THE ACTIVE RWY CAUSED ME TO FORGET THE INSTRUCTIONS TO RPT 1 MI FINAL; SINCE I NORMALLY REPEAT THE TWR INSTRUCTIONS TO MYSELF TO REMEMBER THEM BETTER. B) OTHER AIR TFC AT XX45 PM ON SAT NIGHT WAS NONEXISTENT DURING MY APCH. THE TWR FREQ WAS SILENT DURING THE ENTIRE APCH AND NO TA'S WERE ISSUED. THIS PROBABLY CAUSED ME TO BE FAIRLY COMPLACENT AND ENJOY THE NIGHT-TIME VIEW OF THE CITY; NOT REALLY EXPECTING TO BE COORDINATED WITH OTHER TFC. C) I HAVE BEEN ISSUED A LNDG CLRNC MANY TIMES ON THE FIRST CALL ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS; AND OUT OF HABIT DIDN'T THINK IT STRANGE NOT TO CALL THE TWR AGAIN UNTIL AFTER LNDG. FROM NOW ON; I'LL INSIST ON HEARING THE MAGIC WORD 'CLRED' AND CALL UP THE TWR AGAIN IF I'M NOT ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN A CLRNC HAS BEEN ISSUED.