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NYC Hudson River corridor & Sky Acres 44N

Lycosaurus

Well Known Member
I get a flash mob alert email from Mike Draper with plans to meet at Sky Acres (44N, home of Sky Geeks) and later fly down the Hudson. Even Mike did not expect such a turnout but we had 10 RVs and what looks like a good 17 people meeting for breakfast. Thanks for organizing this. Our breakfast was paid for by the flash mob since we were the furthest.... Thank-you guys.

Our trip began from Carp Airport (CYRP), basically in Ottawa. It did not even take 20 minutes for us to arrive at Ogdensburg (KOGS) to meet customs at 8:15 on a Sunday morning. With formalities taken care off, we were off again with not even a 10 minute ground stop. KOGS to 44N in 1 hour. We had good 30 to 40 kts tailwinds, giving ground speeds of about 190 kts. Of course, we paid for it later in the day for our return trip, which took 2 hours from N44 to CYRP, but we were also adjusting the throttle to meet our Canadian customs ETA.

It was great meeting everyone. There's a group photo below.... Shirley volunteered to be the photographer. Flash Mob gang, feel free to post your outing photos below.

Here are some photos of our day trip:

Parking was tight as it was a very busy morning for the restaurant at 44N. Parked near CJ's freshly minted plane.
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Hudson River RV Flash Mob
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Gratuitous airplane shot
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Departure RV line preparing for takeoff 35
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Nearby airport has creative way to make a runway and avoid floats.
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Tappan Zee Bridge - additional lanes being added
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Palisades Interstate Park lookout point
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Can't resist the tourist shots.
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Turning north-bound at the Verrazano bridge
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North-bound river photos
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Clock Tower
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Central Park
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GWB
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Tappan Zee
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Back at 44N for some pie and cheap fuel.
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The red barn is where the restaurant / FBO / fuel pumps are located. About a 30 foot rise, makes for some interesting taxiing experience. Brakes are obligatory when getting back down to the runway.
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Now imagine what it was like to have 10 RVs flying down the Hudson with each announcing at the reporting points.
 
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Glad you had good time. If weather allows we will do the Hudson River tour next week in a friend's Bonanza.
 
Alfio you travel the farthest distance and you write the most exciting report thank you and Shirley for wonderful pictures! You guys are troopers. I was roaming VA that day and clocked close to 7 hours on the hobbs. By the way I don't see Andy he has the fastest RV7 in New England. :)




I go to 44N to pick up my monthly case of oil on Sunday. :D
 
Alfio,

Great Pictures! I was behind you the entire flight. Here is a close up of your RV-9 right after you passed the Tappan Zee bridge heading South. Nice to meet you!

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Alfio,

Great to see you guys! Glad you were able to make it!

Vlad, Andrew and Rich couldn't make it. However, Andy and Allison were there. Their plane is in the conga line photo in front of mine waiting for departure.

...and also, we have a new plane claiming the title of the fastest RV-7 in New England now!

;)

Fun time! Sorry you missed it Vlad.

See you all soon at the Bald Mountain Camp ice fly in on February 6, 2016 in Rangeley, Maine on Mooselookmeguntic Lake!

;) CJ
 
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The NYC Corridor should be on everyone's bucket list. Those are outstanding pictures and it makes me want to go back and do it again. Thanks for posting!
 
Hudson River Trip

Thanks to Chip and his RV6 for giving me the heads up.
I am so jealous. I sold my RV3 but it went to Dave Hirschman of AOPA
I'm sure he will take great care of her
 
Black Pond Airport

I found this interesting article on the Black Pond airport at http://www.airfields-freeman.com/NY/Airfields_NY_SE.htm

Not much is known about this unusual little airport, including its actual name, or date of construction.

The Black Pond Airfield was evidently built at some point between 1974-93, as it did not yet exist in a 1974 aerial photo.

The earliest depiction which has been located of the Black Pond Airfield was the 1993 USGS aerial photo. It showed the field to have a single 3,300' paved runway, which was apparently constructed on filled-in land in the middle of the lake. Closed runway "X" symbols are prominently displayed on both ends of the runway.

The airfield does not appear to be very old, as the pavement & markings appear to be relatively recent. There do not appear to be any hangars or other aviation facilities.

Why was so much effort spent to construct this runway in the middle of the lake, instead of just clearing a patch of land alongside the lake?

No airfield at all was depicted on the site on the 1975 NY Sectional Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe), or the 1975, 1981, or 1993 USGS topo maps. Indeed, even the filled-in land on which the runway was built was not depicted on the topo maps.

Ian Baren reported in 2004, "The story I heard about Black Pond was that the president of the local bank built it for his own use ? there is a modern metal hanger on the northeast side. I?ve never seen any plane(s) there though."

Jeff Green reported in 2005, ?The land around Black Pond, the pond, and the landing strip all belong to Dean & Wayne Ryder, owners of the Putnam National Bank. PNB has been around since the middle of the 1800's & the family has owned this land since then. It [the airfield] sits a few hundred feet from my home. Frequently on Saturday mornings Wayne (or is it Dean) goes flying or his friends come to visit. He's got a propjet of some sort, hence the length of the runway. The runway was built by draining Black Pond then filling in the subsurface for the runway which now connects several small 'islands' that were in the pond."
 
Supplements

Alfio covered it well (nice shots Shirley!) so I will add some alternate views to the pile...

Talking about $4.10/gal, no doubt.
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Light Breeze at the Barn (restaurant):
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Oranges under strict preflight:
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The dot on the right isn't a smudge, it's Impossible "NSBB" Al:
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Don't forget Midtown!
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Yankee Stadium...
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And the lovely LGA
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-AO
 
I haven't flown over the field in a while but a few years ago there were a couple King Airs on the ramp. I have also heard of a Stearman occasionally flying into/out of the strip.
 
Great photos of my back yards....myself and 90% completed RV 4 ,only twenty minutes from 44N, would like to know when any one coming there, would gladly meet if not pre committed....Tom Hankamp 845 464 6328
 
Nice pictures Mike and Andy.

This was our second time down the Hudson. It may have been about 4 years ago when we traveled north to south down the Hudson. A little nervous so did not enjoy the sights as much. Also, we had a fierce tailwind pushing us down the river an extra 35 kts plus. The advantage was that not many aircraft fly that day... not that they was an issue last weekend. Actually it all went like clockwork.

This time we turned around at the VZ bridge, unlike the first time where we crossed the bridge and headed for Linden NJ. We visited NYC for during weekend and returned with fond memories. Everyone there was pleasant and welcoming.

This is definitely a bucket list destination. Will be back in another 4 years :)

Alfio
 
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