Flying Hudson River Route

I have been dreaming about flying the Hudson River route for years. Finally, I did it on May 4, 2007. It is hard to believe that I fly an airplane that I built myself along the river besides one of the largest concrete jungles in the world. I was overwhelmed by the awesome view and the pride of being the builder and the pilot of this wonderful airplane.

My wife and I took a four day trip to visit a friend in Poughkeepsie, NY and my sister's family in Long Island. We decided to take the opportunity to fly the Hudson River route from Poughkeepsie to Statue of Liberty before turning eastward to Long Island. Before we left, I found a wonderful website by Scott Germaise on Flying the Hudson. Upon arriving at Poughkeepsie I also purchased a copy of the New York Terminal Chart. The NYC airspace is quite complex to say the least. I definitely do not want to be forced down by a Blackhawk helicopter, or, worse, hitting a building or another aircraft. Since my RV-9A is equipped with a moving map GPS, the task of keeping myself out of the wrong airspace is made easier.

We departed KPOU soon after 8:30 am and immediately followed Hudson River down south. Before entering the NY class B airspace we set the radio to 123.05, the self announcement frequency. There are several reporting points suggested in Scott's article: Tappan Zee Bridge, Alpine Tower, George Washington Bridge, The Intrepid (gone for maintenance, I reported cruiseline pier), 30th Street Heliport (I missed it), Empire State Building, Holland Tunnel, Ground Zero (I missed it), Governor's Island, Ellis Island (my own addition), Statue of Liberty (or the Lady), Verrazano Narrows Bridge. You can see most of those reporting points in my photo album. For most of the route we maintained 950' until reaching Governor's Island when I descended to 500' to get a better look at the Lady. We climbed to 1200' to clear the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. After Verrazano Narrows Bridge we flew around the JFK airspace over the Lower NY Bay and Raritan Bay to Long Island. We flew slow and it took about one hour for the entire trip.

I must give my wife credit for the pictures. I was too busy flying the airplane and took only a handful of pictures. Since we flew in the morning and the sun was behind Manhattan, colors of the Manhattan pictures got washed out.

KPOU to KFRG Photos


Ted
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http://tc1234c.googlepages.com/
RV-9A, Lycoming (ECI) O320-D2A, 160 hp, Carb, Dual Mag, Sensenich FP
GRT dual DU H1, TT DigiFlight II VSGV, 155 hr Hobbs

NYC

Great trip photos. Thanks for posting them. I plan to make that trip in my RV-10 someday!

Wonderful write up! I've been there a couple of times, but only toured Lady Liberty from the Staten Island ferry.


Thanks Ted!!!

Hudson River corridor

Excellent Post Ted. Have done that flight down to the big city many times and I'm still overwhelmed by it. One of the best sightseeing trips you could take. One teeny correction though. Your Governors Island is actually an old converted Rail Road pier sticking out from New Jersey. The real Governors Island is over near Brooklyn on the southern tip of Manhattan. There was a lot of talk after 9-11 to close that airspace to VFR traffic forever. Sure glad the FAA didn't agree.

Hudson River flight above the corridor...

I made that trip on July 30, 2005. I flew over to Rhode Island with a friend from NJ for lunch with our old boss (retired). On the way back, the weather was good enough to take the tour. The whole story with photos and video frames captured are posted beginning at this link to my web site.

http://www.n2prise.org/rv9a156.htm#July30

The flight south down the river was above the VFR corridor (~1300 MSL) while in contact with NYC Approach and the airports down the route.

Jerry K. Thorne
RV-9A N2PZ

Having grown up on Long Island and have made the trip upstate many times in a car it is nice to see everything from the air. My best air view was coming out of Newark heading up to Albany. We fly right next to the Twin Towers and up the Hudson from there. I was lucky to have a window on the right side of the plane. I would have never guessed that a year later the towers would be gone. I had lunch at the 56th Fighter Group(I think that is the name) at Farmingdale back in October. It was strange being back there after so many years. I can't wait to take my 10 to Long Island and up to Lake George and Glenn Falls. Thanks for the write up and pictures!

Tom, Thank you for your correction. You are right, Governor's Island is on the left hand side of my flight path.

Jerry, I read most of your trip stories that motivated me to finish my 9A.

Very nice. I have lots of good memories of that route; we used to fly it fairly often on our way to Rochester to train with the Marine Corps Reserve unit there. Worked with the Army at West Point a few times, too.

The last time I flew it was September 19, 2001.

We just flew the Hudson on our way to CT from Devils Hill during our tour of the East Coast. Your post is awesome and relating to the flight is right on. I will again someday fly it, knowing the second time will be less intimidating and the eyes will capture more detail. Larry DVT AZ.

Living in the area I fly the Hudson corridor quite often and is always pleasant to the newbie passengers that I take.

Here are a few points that may simplify the airspace:
-You don't actually need to enter the NY Class B if you stay under 1100 feet between the GW Bridge and the ~about~ the Verrazano Narrows bridge.
-Always stay over the water
-When travelling North bound, stay on the New York side of the river
-When travelling South bound, stay on the New Jersey side of the river.

The Hudson trip is a GREAT experience, I try to take all visitors at least once. It is spectacular at night. It was a bit tricky after 9/11 because there was a 1 nm no-fly zone around The Lady. That required you to cross over the middle of Governor's Island going north. The result was that you were heading straight towards the skyscrapers at the tip of Manhattan at less than a mile. I bet that made some people uncomfortable.

I flew the corridor several years ago on the night when NYC and NJ were totally blacked out. Very surreal without the neon and building lights. Very few buildings had generators. As I came abreast of streets, I would glimps headlights and tail lights in the valleys and then nothing, quickly followed by the next valley among the black mountains of concrete, stone and glass. The only other aircraft were several police and Homeland security helicopters. No lights but for the moon reflecting off the bay and the river. It was one of those "once in a life time" moments!

Jekyll

I've flown this route a few times before 9/11. Has the procedure changed? Does ATC want to talk to you when you're in the corridor?

I am not sure whether the procedure has changed or not since I have never flown there before. However, you don't have to talk to ATC. There is this 123.05 self announce frequency for Hudson River. Most of the aircraft on the frequency are helicopters. I don't see a 1 mile no fly zone around Statue of Liberty (see the terminal chart posted on the previous page). As a matter of fact, the distance from the Lady to Governor's Island is about 1 mile. The uncontrolled airspace around the Statue of Liberty has a ceiling of 1100': extend to the east to the Governor's Island, and west to the NJ shore (very close). Over the NJ side, the ceiling drops to 500'. They are all under the Newark Intl airspace. The lower part of the Hudson River, Governor's Island, Lower NY Bay and part of Brooklyn has the ceiling of 1500'. From a little north of George Washington Bridge to around Holland Tunnel the uncontrolled airspace under La Guardia airport is 1100'. Being from out of town, personally, I would not fly based solely on chart and landmarks. GPS moving map is great, it depicts exactly where I was (I zoom it to the max). The terminal chart gave me an idea what's ahead. I did cheated a little by turning on my AP to maintain altitude, so I can enjoy the outside view and not to worry about violating the controlled airspace. It was fun!

Ted
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T.C. Chang

http://tc1234c.googlepages.com/
RV-9A, Lycoming (ECI) O320-D2A, 160 hp, Carb, Dual Mag, Sensenich FP
GRT dual DU H1, TT DigiFlight II VSGV, 155 hr Hobbs

The Lady's no-fly zone was lifted several years ago. Sorry, I should have mentioned that. And no need to contact ATC for the corridor. I Know some folks that contact approach and go through the Bravo at 1500 feet. It's a busy place and they often get vectored all over and don't get the view they want.

I set up for 900 feet to allow some distance from the 1100 foot base because it's mostly all out of cockpit (no alt hold). I fly at one altitude instead of changing with the base.

Jekyll