June 1, 2014
Today my instructor Jonathan asked if I would be interested in flying over Manhattan. I was a little surprised because I didn’t think small planes were allowed there. But it was a beautiful and clear spring day, so naturally I said yes. My dad insisted on riding along to take video.
Manhattan is right in the middle of Class Bravo airspace in the New York metropolitan area, some of the busiest airspace in the world. There are three major airports in the area: John F. Kennedy International, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty International. In-flight radio communications and navigation are extremely complicated even for professional pilots. We put our faith in Jonathan, who had done the trip many times.
We taxied out via Bravo, Foxtrot and Charlie, and took off on Runway 19 (airport diagram below). This allowed for a straight-out, southward departure toward the ocean. Upon reaching the shoreline and exiting Republic’s Class Delta airspace, we headed west along the south shore of Long Island. JFK was the first tower we checked in with; they directed us to fly below 1,500 feet AGL because there were much bigger, IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) aircraft flying above us. We passed Jones Beach, Long Beach, Rockaway and Breezy Point, and then turned north, flying up the mouth of the Hudson River. We flew past the Statue of Liberty on our left, and directly over the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, which connects Brooklyn and Staten Island.
Even though I was too busy with the controls to take it all in, it was an amazing view! All of Manhattan was visible, stretching northward into the distance. The new World Trade Center stood out on the Lower West Side and the Empire State Building poked up in the middle distance.
We proceeded up the Hudson River, turned right, flew over Central Park, and right again to fly south down the East River. At the bottom of Manhattan we looped back up the Hudson, crossed Manhattan again and headed east toward LaGuardia. From LGA it was a short leg back to Republic. Click here to see the Manhattan video gallery.
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This was a really fun flight, but it also made me realize how complicated it is to fly in Class Bravo airspace and how much there is to learn.
Click to Enlarge.
The pictures are preety cool. I love Hawaii. I usually surf there but never thought about flying a plane there. And I live in California so seeing the airplanes there was cool. I reposted the fan thing. I couldn’t imagine flying a plane it is really powerful and to me seems dangerous.
Thanks for replying to my post. It’s actually a misconception that airplanes are dangerous. In fact, stepping in an airplane is probably safer than getting in a car. California has some of the best flying in the country. You’re lucky to have perfect weather every single day!