Flying in the NYC Area

At the end of September I’m flying down with my wife to New York city for a week long getaway. She’s been to NYC once before but it was a rushed trip and I’ve never been at all. We’re both looking forward to it and the best part about the trip is that we have a free place to stay, courtesy of my former business partner who was recently promoted to President of Solium Capital Ltd., Solium Capital’s subsidiary in the United States. And he’s conveniently located in New York.

We plan to do the typical NYC things like take in a show and visit Central Park and such, but I thought that I would rent a plane while I was down there and try to do a little sightseeing from the air (and perhaps log some time while I was at it). Anyone have any suggestions on a good place to rent from? Since I don’t feel like doing a full checkout that will likely be required by any school, I’ll likely bring along an instructor as a guide so I’ll probably want to rent a Cessna 182 since it will confortably take four people. Thoughts?

1 comment »

1. By david 1 day later:

   
   
   I've flown my own plane into Caldwell/Essex County (KCDW) twice, Republic (KFRG) once, and Teterboro (KTEB) once. NY airspace isn't as crazy as it's made out to be -- the radio is no busier than Ottawa, Toronto, or Montreal, at least not in the sectors I've flown through. Just make sure you study the charts very carefully to know where the various airspace floors and ceilings are. I've never rented down there, but I'd guess that KCDW would be your best bet -- it's towered but small, with no landing fees and minimal waits, so you won't blow most of the rental money taxiing and holding like you might at KTEB or KFRG. A lot of NY pilots fly out of there, including the late JFK Jr. Mac Dan is the nicer of the two FBOs (but also a touch more expensive); Caldwell Air Services is a bit run down, and the instructors I overhead talking seemed to complain a lot, but they might be OK as well.