So tell me about flying the Hudson.

Skylane81E

Skylane81E

Final Approach
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Duncan
I may be taking a trip to DE this weekend, and there is also a PnP flight from Cincy to the NYC area for the same time. To take the puppy would add only an hour or so to the trip. If I do go though I'd like to fly the Hudson south past the city, then sneak out along the shoreline to the west before skirting south of Philly. I've flown once in the NYC area but I had a pro familer to the area sitting next to me.

Tips, tricks, advice?

Thanks!
 
Skylane81E said:
I may be taking a trip to DE this weekend, and there is also a PnP flight from Cincy to the NYC area for the same time. To take the puppy would add only an hour or so to the trip. If I do go though I'd like to fly the Hudson south past the city, then sneak out along the shoreline to the west before skirting south of Philly. I've flown once in the NYC area but I had a pro familer to the area sitting next to me.

Tips, tricks, advice?

Thanks!
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try this
https://www.faasafety.gov/gslac/ALC/course_content.aspx?pf=1&preview=true&cID=79

enroll and take the course, get a current NY TAC chart, follow the rules and enjoy:). I fly it ocasionally. Just took my sister for a scenic flight last week during her visit from California. She really enjoyed it.
 
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And that is the kind of thing I was after, thanks, I'll check it out tonight
 
You're quite welcome :)

I flew northbound at 1200' from the VZ to the Alpine tower and self announced over the CTAF at the FAA Mandatory reporting points. VZ, Statue of Liberty, Clock, Intrepid, GWB & Alpine tower. Made my 180* course reversal, flew southbound and self announced my position again upon reaching the reporting points in the opposite order, starting with Alpine Tower. Northbound you stay along the river edge on the NYC side, southbound stay over the Jersey side. In other words, stay to the right:)

I've also flown it via the "SKYLINE ROUTE" which requires an ATC clearance into the Bravo. You have to contact LaGuardia Tower prior to reaching the Alpine Tower if you're flying in from the north or Newark Tower from the south. They'll give you a squawk code and altitude to fly, usually around 1500 feet. Hope you have a great flight and enjoy the beautiful sights of the City. If you have time, request the East River northbound with a crossing over Central Park back out to the Hudson! It's all in the SFRA course, just study it well and you should be fine.

Oh yeah...The Bravo starts at 1300 feet over the exclusion!
 
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One Short said:
Also there is a sports stadium towards the north end. If there is a game on the stadium TFR extends over the river.
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That would be Yankee Stadium. Go to yankees.com and check the schedule.

-Skip
 
One Short said:
I thought this web site was helpful when I flew the Hudson

http://www.germaise.com/interests/aviation_flyinghudson1.htm

Also there is a sports stadium towards the north end. If there is a game on the stadium TFR extends over the river.

Barb
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Good site. Just be careful, he has old info and altitudes! Last updated in 2006. The FAA changed things in 2009 after that midair.

Check out the video on this guy's website also.
http://aviationsafetyvideos.com/ebook5.html
 
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Nice video. Makes my little "Bay Tour" seem like a piece of cake compared to your Hudson flying.
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
Nice video. Makes my little "Bay Tour" seem like a piece of cake compared to your Hudson flying.
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yeah it's some of the busiest airspace on the east coast! You have Newark, JFK & LaGuardia Bravo airspace all overlapping each other. Also the Hudson now has 3 different procedures depending on what you want to do....Skyline Route in the Bravo, Transient route from the Verrazano Bridge to the Alpine Tower (1000-1299') or Local Ops. I've only flown the first two. Flying the local ops route(below 1000') and orbiting the Statue, is on my to do list:wink2:
I'll plan that for an early morning flight before all the tourist choppers get going:lol:

All in all, it's a very rewarding flight as long as you follow the rules and keep your head on a swivel...and for God's sake, if you fly the corridor don't reverse course before passing the end points (VZ and Alpine Tower):nono:
 
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By the way, this was my very first flight in a GA airplane. My Intro flight in 1998 was from Teterboro Airport in NJ then over the Hudson with a 180 over Coney Island. Back then you had to remain below 1100' and self announcing your position was standard procedure but not mandatory!

It was also common to use terms like "the lady", "Colgate" (for the clock in Jersey City), etc. Those terms are no longer acceptable to the FAA.
 
Well the old inline six made a lot of power for it's day, but the glide ratio stunk.... Oh you mean the Hudson River? I thought you meant the Hudson Hornet! Never mind.:dunno::D
 
Ummm, since I both know what you are talking about and owned one, YOU are a fossil...
 
Duncan, whatever else you do, fly the plane.

This is very busy airspace, and it is also a visually rich environment from a sightseeing perspective. Don't let the view get in the way of your PIC duties. I think this is one of the mistakes that Cory Lidle and his CFI made that led to them planting the plane in an apartment building on the east side of Manhattan.

More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_New_York_City_plane_crash

-Skip
 
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Skip Miller said:
Duncan, whatever else you do, fly the plane.

This is very busy airspace, and it is also a visually rich environment from a sightseeing perspective. Don't let the view get in the way of your PIC duties. I think this is one of the mistakes that Cory Lidle and his CFI made that led to them planting the plane in an apartment building on the east side of Manhattan.

More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_New_York_City_plane_crash

-Skip
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Good point. For the pilot, IMO, the pleasure should more be in executing a tricky corridor in a competent manner, not seeing the Lady from the left seat. Sure, enjoy the view outside the windshield but situational awareness and proper procedure come first.

Edit: note that Lidle crashed in the more difficult East River corridor, not the Hudson corridor. Given the winds that day, he (or the CFI onboard) would have had to execute a 180-degree steep turn almost perfectly to avoid hitting the building, according to the Wiki article.
 
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I rember the Lidle crash, big news in Cincinnati due to his history with the Reds.

I expect I'll have a passenger to take pictures so I plan on looking at them after the fact. ;)
 
Skylane81E said:
I expect I'll have a passenger to take pictures so I plan on looking at them after the fact. ;)
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That's what my sister did. I put the camera in her hand and for video, I have an NFlightcam. I agree, situational awareness is your number one priority! As a matter of fact, the first few times I flew the Hudson (since the 2009 FAA changes), I decided to do it via the Skyline Route. I just felt better with the assistance of ATC in the Bravo, at least until I reacquainted myself with the area and procedures. Now I feel pretty confident flying the transient route between 1000 and 1200'.

Over the East River, you have no choice but to get an ATC clearance into the Bravo (which I prefer anyway). Prior to the 2009 changes, I had never flown up the East River (never liked the box canyon U-turn). Although I could have requested the East River Bravo clearance prior to 2009, I just didn't bother with it the hand full of times I flew the Hudson. Now I absolutely love it:wink2:
 
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I've flown it several times in the Bravo, never in the SFRA. Whenever I fly it, I come from the east (Long Island). What I like about flying in the Bravo is being able to cross over Central Park, as well as traverse the East River.

Generally from the east, I'll follow the south shore of Long Island, under the JFK approaches (stay below 500' and contact Kennedy Tower 125.25). From there, I'll go over the VZ and be handed off to Newark as I head up the Hudson. Between the Holland and Lincoln tunnels, I'm handed off to LaGuardia Tower. From them I'll request Central Park, then either East River southbound to the VZ, or overhead LGA to Throgs Neck eastbound.

When with ATC, you'll be notified of Yankees TFRs (which aren't NOTAMed or provided by briefers), so that's one advantage. You'll also have the numerous other aircraft pointed out to you. Here (toward the end of the doc) are the two standard tours that the helicopters fly, including where they climb into and descend out of the Class B. Those areas can be pinch points, but if you're in the Class B you'll be advised of traffic.

SFRA kneeboard-size info: http://aasf3-ny.org/4-Standards/Documents/PUBLICATIONS/Training/NY exclusion kneeboard.pdf
SFRA reporting points chart: http://www.eaa27.org/resources/hudson_SFRA_VFR.pdf

Heli Chart (helpful when flying in the Bravo and doing more than just Skyline route): http://aeronav.faa.gov/index.asp?xml=aeronav/applications/VFR/chartlist_heli


In the SFRA, keep your position reports succinct. "Cessna, southbound, 1100', Intrepid". There's no need for "Hudson Traffic, Cessna Skylane is 1200ft, Jersey side, passing the Intrepid, Southbound, Hudson Traffic".
 
Before I started flying though there I took a few of those interactive courses and watched a few seminars but none of them told me of the amount of traffic to expect.
There are a lot of people who want to transition thought there for obvious reasons. Expect a few TIS alerts. On the south side of the corridor (around the Statue of Liberty) there will be a good number of helicopters going in random directions over the bay, and even though they are supposed to stay bellow 1K not all of them do that. Also I seen a few people do 180s in the corridor, this can be unexpected so keep track of headon traffic as well.
Ones I even seen a DA40 use the Statue of Liberty as a center point around which to practice a series of turns around a point (and he was above 1K).
Also I seen some people enter the corridor in the middle (not at the alpine tower or VZ).

I lost count of number of times I flew that corridor and not a single time had I had a chance to look at the city and enjoy the sinnery, if you don't see any traffic it does not mean it's not there. My number 1 rule for the corridor is scan for traffic.
 
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