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Niagara Falls/Buffalo Bills

tkatc

Well Known Member
So the Eagles are playing the Bills. We have no tickets, no rental car, no nothing but we wanted to fly up and take our chances on getting to/into the game.

Our track...
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Somewhere over north central Pennsylvania.
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My brother the co-pilot.
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Approaching Ralph Wilson Stadium (Buffalo Bills)
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Looks nice from up here, can't wait to get down there!!
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Tailgating in full swing!!
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We land at Buffalo International (KBUF) and park at Prior Aviation. They wanted to put us in front with the lear jets, hawkers, gulfstreams, etc but I insisted on a tie-down. I tired to buy tickets online through stubhub but we were too late...they stop selling online 1 hour prior to game time. So off we go to take our chances on scalpers. Prior Aviation was very helpful and got us over to Hertz where they have an available rental car.

TIP: Always book a rental car online. MUCH cheaper. They were $45-50 online so i figured it would be the same as we rolled up to the booth. WRONG!! $79. We didn't have time to mess around the game was starting in 35 minutes so we took it.

All the scalpers were trying to BUY tickets....nobody was selling. As we walked up to the stadium we finally SCORED!! Pair of tickets...not together but at least we were in.

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First quarter was not looking good for our Eagles! (Nor was the 2nd or 3rd for that matter)
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The Bills fans are definately into it!! They love their Bills.
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The crowd was VERY loud until the 4th quarter when the Eagles finally showed some life. Not to worry though....the Eagles blew another game.

Buffalo tower. All the controllers were pretty cool here!!
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We wanted to do a quick lap or 2 around the falls before heading home after our 4th disappointing loss in a row. Here are the falls from a distance. You can see that mist coming up from miles away.
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Beautiful day!!
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The leaves are starting to turn in the Northeast!!
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Complete service with inflight movies!! Walk the Line is one of my favorites!!
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Peidmont has a near midair with the moon!
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Home Sweet Home, PHILADELPHIA!!
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Pretty nice day except for the Eagles losing.
 
You made my day..........

.....I was just there a few weeks ago visiting an old friend who had cancer. Did a glider ride near his home in Elmira, and we stopped by the falls before my departure from BUF. Was great to see your air shots of the falls having been there for the first time so recently, thanks, Glenn
 
PS

Is there any issues up there flying a private plane over the Canadian side? Just curious.
 
There is a procedure you have to follow. It is published in the "Green book" for Niagara Falls. Canada and the U.S. have an agreement and you can fly over the falls at or above 3500'. I was in orbit with a Canadian 172. It was funny because after a circuit or 2 he went west and I went east!

Some of those foliage pics are in the Elmira area.

Glad you like the pics. Video is being processed as we speak.
 
There is a procedure you have to follow. It is published in the "Green book" for Niagara Falls. Canada and the U.S. have an agreement and you can fly over the falls at or above 3500'. I was in orbit with a Canadian 172. It was funny because after a circuit or 2 he went west and I went east!

Some of those foliage pics are in the Elmira area.

Glad you like the pics. Video is being processed as we speak.


THANKS! I wondered about that when I was there watching a tour helicopter go back and forth. Figured they had a L.O.A. or something...........Glenn
 
My brother couldn't fly a kite :D

You should have been there....we could have gotten even better pics!
 
My brother couldn't fly a kite :D

You should have been there....we could have gotten even better pics!


Next time I am in. I was on planned reconaissance mission could not join you guys :)
 
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Nice photos and video. Last time we visited the area it was covered by low cloud and we ended IFR back. Need to pay it a visit sometime.
 
Ted, thanks. You sure are close enough! We had beautiful weather! I hope more pilots do write ups like this. It's inspiring to those building and sparks ideas in others who are already flying.
 
My son and I flew over the falls in June on our way back from Canada. We cleared customs at Niagra International and had lunch. Before departing we asked to do a scenic flight over the falls. The tower told us to make climbing 360s over the Nations bridge up to 3500 then direct to the falls and make right traffic. It was a pretty day just like yours. We got lots of pictures before continuing to Frederick, Md.
What a wonderful experience!
Thanks.
 
TFR?

I thought major sporting events were always accompanied by a TFR. I guess I was wrong, since you were able to approach the stadium as it was starting to fill up. Perhaps someone could clarify for me when they actually do have TFR's for big events like this.

Thanks
 
tkatc. thanks for the great shots of the stadium and Niagara Falls. Lived in Buffalo for 12 yrs in 70's-80's. Spent many happy days at the Falls, and the Buffalo Bills games. Still a Bills fan, hate the Eagles (sorry, but they have always been a problem for the Bills, and now for the Atlanta Falcons. Of course for the Falcons this season-who isn't a problem?). Thanks again.
Dick Seiders -former RV6A driver, now flying an RV12.
 
Still a Bills fan, hate the Eagles (sorry, but they have always been a problem for the Bills, and now for the Atlanta Falcons. Of course for the Falcons this season-who isn't a problem?). Thanks again.
Dick Seiders -former RV6A driver, now flying an RV12.

Actually, we're one of the teams who DID beat Philly this year. Now if we could just take their baseball team down a peg and restore order in the NL East... :D
 
TFR!! There are TFRs around major sporting events. My Garmin wasn't showing the TFR....not even the yellow circle it usually does to alert you that a TFR WILL be going into effect. With this in mind I specifically asked ATC about this and they said it doesn't go into effect until 1 hour prior to game time. He also said I was restricted to a minimum 3500' which confused me but in an effort to avoid any problems I complied. I am still wondering if the 3500' restriction was necessary.
 
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