Hudson River VFR Corridor
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Hudson River VFR Corridor
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/CapeCanaver...g/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/CapeCanaver...g/nyc/nyc.html
KCDW
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KCDW
Nice one - I did it twice last year (solo) in a rented Warrior out of CDW, once continuing down the NJ coast to Atlantic City, and once along the south side of Long Island and on to Block Island.
If you continue over the harbour at 1000' or thereabouths you need to get round or over the Verrazano bridge, which must have towers up to about 800'. If you take the central route it feels like you are flying right through the bridge supports!
If you carry on down Long Island you can transit about 5 miles south of JFK, offshore not above 500', and talk to Kennedy Tower on the way ('caution wake turbulence from aircraft departing above you').
BTW - I hope you observed the 1 mile exclusion zone around the Statue of Liberty, or has that been removed.
I'll post a photo if I get a chance.
Nice one - I did it twice last year (solo) in a rented Warrior out of CDW, once continuing down the NJ coast to Atlantic City, and once along the south side of Long Island and on to Block Island.
If you continue over the harbour at 1000' or thereabouths you need to get round or over the Verrazano bridge, which must have towers up to about 800'. If you take the central route it feels like you are flying right through the bridge supports!
If you carry on down Long Island you can transit about 5 miles south of JFK, offshore not above 500', and talk to Kennedy Tower on the way ('caution wake turbulence from aircraft departing above you').
BTW - I hope you observed the 1 mile exclusion zone around the Statue of Liberty, or has that been removed.
I'll post a photo if I get a chance.
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Most of the TFRs (Temp Flight Restrictions) on that route are gone. It's almost back to normal. The one exception I know of is the 3 mile exclusion from Sports Stadiums when a game is on. So Giants Stadium might get in the way of the route.
Last edited by KCDW; 21st May 2003 at 22:50.
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I did it flying down the Long Island coast (400ft), over the Verrazano narrows bridge, round the statue of liberty, up the Hudson river, then - after brief negotiation with La Guardia, transit across Manhattan overhead Central Park at 1300ft, then overhead La Guardia at the same height before heading back to Farmingdale.
It was fantastic!
I'd rather assumed that post September 11th it wasn't possible any more. Nice to find out I was wrong.
It was fantastic!
I'd rather assumed that post September 11th it wasn't possible any more. Nice to find out I was wrong.
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Pilotwolf and I were looking at doing similar when we were in New York a couple of weeks ago. We were only there for a few days though, so had to get our aviation fix from the USS Intrepid. Although the vis was pretty low there was a lot of traffic around.
PhilD - would love to see your photos.
PhilD - would love to see your photos.
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Aerobatic Flyer,
That’s the Land of the Free for you. Even after something as dreadful as 9/11, they were very reluctant to put the TFR’s in place.
March last year (just 6 months after 9/11), when I was being checked out for the US, my instructor suggested we did the Hudson / Central Park / LGA route that you mention. “Yeah right” I thought.
The conversation went like this:
Us: “La Guardia Approach, Piper Warrior N2280Q, 2000’ Tappen Zee bridge, request transition through your airspace”.
LGA: (barely masked incredulity) “N2280Q – do really mean to speak to us?”
Us: “Affirm, 80Q”
LGA: “standby”
2 long minutes later – we got clearance ending with:
LGA: “… and DON’T, repeat DON’T go south of Central Park”
From which I assumed that the patrolling F16 overhead had us locked up and was ready to fire…
And agreed, flying over a major airport at 2,000’ in a spam can was fantastic…
That’s the Land of the Free for you. Even after something as dreadful as 9/11, they were very reluctant to put the TFR’s in place.
March last year (just 6 months after 9/11), when I was being checked out for the US, my instructor suggested we did the Hudson / Central Park / LGA route that you mention. “Yeah right” I thought.
The conversation went like this:
Us: “La Guardia Approach, Piper Warrior N2280Q, 2000’ Tappen Zee bridge, request transition through your airspace”.
LGA: (barely masked incredulity) “N2280Q – do really mean to speak to us?”
Us: “Affirm, 80Q”
LGA: “standby”
2 long minutes later – we got clearance ending with:
LGA: “… and DON’T, repeat DON’T go south of Central Park”
From which I assumed that the patrolling F16 overhead had us locked up and was ready to fire…
And agreed, flying over a major airport at 2,000’ in a spam can was fantastic…
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I did the Farmindale – (Long Island not above 500”) - Verrazano Narrows bridge - North up the Hudson River then back to Farmingdale with a friend at the beginning of April.
Fascinating trip, but I had to question what would happen in the event of an engine failure.
No doubt we would get wet, but from the top end of Manhattan back to Farmindale, we had few options.
One part of me is saying Wow - really fantastic trip, the other, where’s the life jacket etc.
Interesting comparison to the Lea Valley trip (thread - Transit London/City CTR )
Do the Americans have an equivalent of Rule 5(1)(a)(i) (the alight clear requirement)?
Whatever you decide, it is a memorable trip.
Fascinating trip, but I had to question what would happen in the event of an engine failure.
No doubt we would get wet, but from the top end of Manhattan back to Farmindale, we had few options.
One part of me is saying Wow - really fantastic trip, the other, where’s the life jacket etc.
Interesting comparison to the Lea Valley trip (thread - Transit London/City CTR )
Do the Americans have an equivalent of Rule 5(1)(a)(i) (the alight clear requirement)?
Whatever you decide, it is a memorable trip.
Why do it if it's not fun?
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All this talk about flying around New York, Alaska, and other exciting places is making me jealous!
As far as I'm aware (ready to be corrected by our American friends) the US don't have any equivalent of Rule 5(1)(a)(i). You have to be able to land without endangering people or property, and they have a 500' rule (but plenty of very empty land where you can fly at 50' agl and still obey the 500' rule). Great fun!
FFF
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As far as I'm aware (ready to be corrected by our American friends) the US don't have any equivalent of Rule 5(1)(a)(i). You have to be able to land without endangering people or property, and they have a 500' rule (but plenty of very empty land where you can fly at 50' agl and still obey the 500' rule). Great fun!
FFF
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