KCDW
20th May 2003, 00:25
Over the weekend I did the Hudson River VFR Corridor down the west side of Manhattan. One word – awesome!
For those of you who don’t know what the flight is. It is a VFR corridor below the LGA, EGW and TEB controlled airspaces (below 1,100’), where you have to keep strictly to the river (flying on the right hand-side).
So consequently (if you are flying North to South) you fly along the Hudson, the sides of which rise to 500 to 600’ in some places. I chose to fly at 900’, so it feels like you’re flying down a canyon.
You have to fly only a few hundred feet over the George Washington bridge (which tops out at about 700’), down past central park, past the Empire State Building (which is 400’ or so above you), past Ground Zero, and then, in our case, you circle round the Statue of Liberty at 500’! The route has it’s own assigned frequency, so you can make and hear regular calls as to where you are.
It’s busy, though the fixed wing traffic are pretty law-abiding and stick to their side of the river. The choppers ferrying business and sight-seeing passengers buzz about all over the place, which makes life interesting.
The whole thing makes for a totally fantastic experience. If you are ever in the New York area, make this a must do. It is far less daunting than it sounds. Took me 15 months to pluck up the courage (that and restrictions after 9/11). Now I only regret I didn’t do it sooner.
I haven’t got any photos, but here is a link from someone’s website showing what it’s like. The shot of Liberty is just what it’s like! Even better for him, the Twin Towers were around then….
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/4857/flying/nyc/nyc.html
KCDW
For those of you who don’t know what the flight is. It is a VFR corridor below the LGA, EGW and TEB controlled airspaces (below 1,100’), where you have to keep strictly to the river (flying on the right hand-side).
So consequently (if you are flying North to South) you fly along the Hudson, the sides of which rise to 500 to 600’ in some places. I chose to fly at 900’, so it feels like you’re flying down a canyon.
You have to fly only a few hundred feet over the George Washington bridge (which tops out at about 700’), down past central park, past the Empire State Building (which is 400’ or so above you), past Ground Zero, and then, in our case, you circle round the Statue of Liberty at 500’! The route has it’s own assigned frequency, so you can make and hear regular calls as to where you are.
It’s busy, though the fixed wing traffic are pretty law-abiding and stick to their side of the river. The choppers ferrying business and sight-seeing passengers buzz about all over the place, which makes life interesting.
The whole thing makes for a totally fantastic experience. If you are ever in the New York area, make this a must do. It is far less daunting than it sounds. Took me 15 months to pluck up the courage (that and restrictions after 9/11). Now I only regret I didn’t do it sooner.
I haven’t got any photos, but here is a link from someone’s website showing what it’s like. The shot of Liberty is just what it’s like! Even better for him, the Twin Towers were around then….
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/4857/flying/nyc/nyc.html
KCDW