Vlad

Well Known Member
After my return from Texas with freshly fixed intercom my cousin wanted to check it. We boarded slow bravo kilo and went to the City. This way.


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Cousin pressed mike couple times and got bored. Nothing to see. Only his bank was sticking out of flat landscape.


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Did couple turns over Central Park and figured out there is not much to see except maybe Belvedere Castle.


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I know there is an RV shop down there :D


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Exited the same way.


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Then we saw THIS!!! Absolutely uncharted!!! On highest man made elevation!!! RUNWAY 77 !!!

Cousin was quick on shutter. This is what he got in split second. Good job at supersonic speed! ;)



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Vlad, I feel like I am supposed to be looking cross-eyed at one of those double image 3d images that were so popular a few years back.

I don't see it!

I do, don't you see it?

No, I don't see it. Where is it?

Right there, in front of your nose!

Well, I just don't see anything but a bunch of skyscrapers!
 
Oh, you mean that? I've landed there hundreds of times. I thought you meant something more challenging.
 
Very cool, Never would have thought you would see that there. Heres what a little google search produces


"The biplane on the roof sculpture was designed by some guy named Rudolph de Harak and executed by the sculptor William Tarr in 1969 (thanks Jack Ryan). Apparently it's a full-size model of a WW1 Sopwith Camel, complete with runway. It was put there to amuse inhabitants of surrounding scyscrapers, notably the WTC. "

-david
 
Vlad I saw it right away.

I thought it odd that the the numbers were sideways. There used to be a helicopter pad on top of the PANAM (now Met Life I think - may have changed again by now).

Bob Axsom

P.S. Speaking of Texas and uncharted runways, in 1991 Jeanine and I ran short of fuel in STRONG headwinds over West Texas trying to stretch a flight in our Archer from Killeen to El Paso. Talking to Albuquerque Center and then El Paso Approach I declared Minimum Fuel and asked to maintain cruise altitude whe I was cleared for my first descent (IFR flight in VMC). I looked out to my left and there was a ~ 7,000 ft paved runway running to the southwest as I recall. I told approach that I was not going to be able to make it but I had a runway in sight to the left and I was going to land there. I gave him my best guess at the name of the airport but the controller (a very cool old dude) no that is a runway that is not charted - we have been trying for years to get them to agree to let us chart it - they are good people and they will help you out. After I landed I saw many Chinese or maybe Russian airplanes (they were olive drab with the red star outlined in yellew - I'm thinking Chinese) in disassembled from shipment no doubt - I assumed part of a restoration business for american buyers.

BA
 
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77 Water St.

That is the top of the building at 77 Water St. in the Financial District. I used to work at 55 Water (next door) and we could see the runway and the plane (looks like an ultralight SE-5A). from the North windows on the 36th floor. The plane has not moved in 15+ years. Talk about a hangar queen! Maybe it goes out at night to battle King Kong:)
Next time I am at 55 Water I'll take a picture.
 
It's not so tough if you use the right "language". I told LGA approach we needed to make a counter-clockwise pattern around central park for a photo mission. The controller assumed we were a helicopter and who are we to correct him? :D

Turbo calls me the COMMUNICATORRRR! :D