Every time I go to New York, I spend my time searching for Desi-food. I go to Time Square, and when tired, I drive to somewhere in New Jersey for a cheap hotel and free parking.
The agenda was much different when I flew to NY on the NSAC Cessna with Ali on March 10, 2012. The plan was to fly over the Hudson River at 1500 feet. Enough of Desi-food, Time Sqaure, and New Jersey!
The weekend started with less than ideal weather for VFR flight. It was forecast to be clear by 2 PM local time. The sky did not clear, but the ceilings lifted to 4000 feet overcast. I decided to fly at 2500 feet all the way to NY.
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| Sun breaking through 4000 foot ceiling over CT |
Flew direct from Beverly, over Hartford, to White Plains. Other than for some minor communication issues, it was uneventful. Unlike the last time, the landing at White Plains was uneventful.
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| Even Hartford looks interesting when NY is far |
We tied down the plane, then took a train to Grand Central Terminal. Since we did not have a car, it was much more convenient to stay close to Grand Central Terminal, so we did.
The hotel room was a charm. It had great views of the East River. The room window was screwed-shut for safety reasons, and the pictures were turning out hazy with reflections from the window. We kicked-open the window to get clearer pictures of the East River. No Time Square this time so we were in deep sleep by 10 PM.
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| View from the UN Hotel |
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| Reflections and Shadows |
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| East River at 9 PM |
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| And East River at 6 AM |
The next day we woke up at 6 AM, grabbed some bagels, and headed back to White Plains to get into the plane and fly over the river. I talked to the New York approach for clearance to fly to "Statue of Liberty and back". I was granted clearance in Newark/Laguardia class B airspace.
When you head south towards Statue of Liberty, you stay on the Jersey side. The first landmark on the river was George Washington Bridge. The Bridge stands 600 feet high, and was quite impressive from 1500 feet.
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| George Washington Bridge. Zoomed in though. |
The next landmark was Goldman Sachs Building on the right, from where we could see Ellis Island, and the Statue of Liberty.
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| Goldman Sachs, return the money or we will drop crap on you |
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| Ellis Island |
We circled counter clock wise around Statue of Liberty, then headed to Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.
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| The lady |
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| Immigrants (or tourists?) |
On the right, we flew over Staten Island Ferry, and the Tear of Grief.
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| Tear of Grief (Commemorating the Twin Towers) |
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| Staten Island Ferry (The ugliest dock I have ever seen) |
As we made a sharp turn from Verrazano Bridge, we saw Coney Island, then headed North towards Manhattan.
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| Verrazano-Narrows and Coney Island (My favorite view) |
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| Sharp turn at Verrazano Narrows Bridge |
We passed over Governer's Island, and there stood the majestic skyline view of Manhattan.
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| Manhattan from Verrazano Bridge, Breathtaking |
We passed the Empire State Building, and then flew next to Ground Zero.
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| Empire State (Its a bit far from Hudson) |
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| Window open, Window closed: Much difference in picture quality |
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| Ground Zero. |
We flew North to the left of Manhattan, all the way back to Tappan Zee Bridge.
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| Manhattan: Concrete Jungle |
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| Departing View of Manhattan |
Tappan Zee is not as impressive as the other two bridges on the Hudson (and that we had climbed to 3000 feet by then).
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| Tappan Zee Bridge at 3000 feet |
Made a right turn at Tappan Zee, over White Plains, and back home to Beverly.
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| White Plains Airport at 3000 feet |
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| Bored, Sleepy, and "lost in dreams" of the just concluded river tour |
When the air is smooth, the plane is trimmed, the autopilot is engaged, and you have just flown over the Hudson Corridor, you find yourself lost in the majestic views of the NY city. You keep yourself awake through some interesting maneuvers:
I do not plan to fly the Hudson Corridor any time soon again. But I will be back to NY soon, and my agenda will most probably be Desi-food, Time Square, and New Jersey again.
I thank Muazzam Ali for the great pictures he took, that made this trip worth sharing.
