On Friday afternoon, I took a client of mine on an aerial tour of New York City. He is from Miami, but we met for the first time a few months ago in Los Angeles as we were both visiting the brokerage firm for which he works' headquarters. Over lunch, I learned he had recently sold his boat and he was considering taking flying lessons. We had a fantastic time discussing all aspects of my initial training. I offered to take him flying the next time he was in New York.
That trip to New York happened yesterday, and so, we went flying. We left HPN at 2:00pm and climbed to 1,500ft MSL. New York departure gave us permission to fly the corridor at 1,500ft, so as the Tappan Zee bridge passed underneath us, I banked left and headed south down the west side of the Hudson River. NY departure turned us over to LaGuardia's tower as we passed over the George Washington Bridge (GBW) and headed towards the Lincoln Tunnel venting towers. Then LaGuardia's tower turned us over to Newark's tower for the rest of the trip south. There were numerous helicopters in the area, but most were 1,000ft below us -- they look like oversized bugs darting about. Next was the Statue of Liberty which I kept off our left side -- a steep bank of the wings and "the Lady" came into full view in all her glory.
That trip to New York happened yesterday, and so, we went flying. We left HPN at 2:00pm and climbed to 1,500ft MSL. New York departure gave us permission to fly the corridor at 1,500ft, so as the Tappan Zee bridge passed underneath us, I banked left and headed south down the west side of the Hudson River. NY departure turned us over to LaGuardia's tower as we passed over the George Washington Bridge (GBW) and headed towards the Lincoln Tunnel venting towers. Then LaGuardia's tower turned us over to Newark's tower for the rest of the trip south. There were numerous helicopters in the area, but most were 1,000ft below us -- they look like oversized bugs darting about. Next was the Statue of Liberty which I kept off our left side -- a steep bank of the wings and "the Lady" came into full view in all her glory.
The next landmark was the Verrizano Bridge then out into Raritan Bay. A long, slow left turn over Sandy Hook and it's back towards the Verrizano. The entire time we had been with the Newark tower controller, he had been upbeat and joking with other pilots on the frequency. Not typical of New York ATC personnel, but I figured I shouldn't waste this opportunity. I asked if he could arrange with LaGuardia's tower for permission to fly up the East River. The East River airspace has been highly restricted since Cory Lidle's accident, but today we were in luck, LaGuardia granted our request! Up the river we went at 1,500ft, over the Brooklyn, Manhattan and 59th Street bridges until we reached 96th street where we turned left 90 degrees and traversed Manhattan directly over the reservoir in Central Park. A view of Central Park from this altitude is something to see!
Once we reached the Hudson, it was a turn north up the river to the Tappan Zee Bridge. LaGuardia tower turned us back over to New York ATC and we returned to HPN. There is no better tour of New York than the one provided by a small plane!
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