Notes for Flying the New York VFR Corridor



Notes for Flying the Hudson River VFR Corridor

Presentation by John Barrett for Flying 20 Club Feb. 18 - 2012

Entering the Corridor from the North, a pilot must descend to below 3000 Feet MSL when over the River and at least three miles north of the Tappan Zee Bridge.  This places him below the floor of the outer ring of the Class B airspace. The flight then continues southbound, staying close to the right (West) side of the river. About six miles south of the Tappan Zee bridge, Look for "The Alpine Towers" (A mandatory reporting point on the Corridor’s 123.05 CTAF). These skeletal steel towers are quite distinctive and boldly visible in red and white stripes, rising starkly above the West Shore, several hundred feet above the cliffs of The Palisades. 

About one mile before passing the Alpine Towers the pilot must have descended further to stay below 1300 and above 1000 feet MSL for a “Transient Flight” or below 1000 feet for a “Sightseeing Flight.” A sightseeing flight is defined as one that will be making changes in direction, speed and/or altitude. A “transient Flight” is one that will make a direct passage straight through the corridor. These direct flights must choose an altitude between 1000 feet and 1299 feet and then make no further speed or altitude changes for the entire length of the corridor, stretching from prior to the “Alpine towers” to the “Verrazano Bridge”, (reported as; “VZ”).

Now, the sightseeing pilot and passengers have the thrilling, if somewhat off-putting, adventure of flying less than 500 feet above and no more than a quarter mile or so, laterally, from the highest points of the cliffs of the Palisades. From this point on and until over the Lower Bay there is little possibility of Flight Following because radar coverage is almost nonexistent, blocked by the numerous tall buildings.  A call to LaGuardia Tower, which controls the airspace overlying the Manhattan stretch of the Corridor will net the terse reply, "Maintain VFR." 

About 8 miles south of the Alpine Towers, the pilot and his passengers have the incredible views passing less than 400 feet above the Western Tower of the “George Washington Bridge”, another mandatory reporting point (Should be reported as ”GWB”), which rises to a height of approximately 650 feet MSL.  All along the route a pilot, necessarily, must be impressed by the lack of any place, other than the River itself, for an emergency landing.  However, in the 1940's a pilot who lost power in a Luscomb over this spot made a successful emergency landing on the bridge roadway BETWEEN THE TOWERS. There must have been far less bridge traffic back then.

The next mandatory reporting point is “The Carrier Intrepid” (report as “Intrepid”), a floating Air Museum, well worth a ground-bound visit. The Carrier is un-missable, berthed at about 44th Street along the Manhattan shore (East side of river), its flight deck holds numerous historic planes. Even its SR71, Blackbird and the Concorde SST, on permanent display, seem dwarfed by the ship’s size. 

Less than a mile south of the Intrepid is the West 30th street Heliport. The sightseeing pilot must be alert for the swarms of sightseeing helicopters operating in this area and up and down the section of river from here south to the Statue of Liberty, usually at altitudes from a few hundred t0 999 feet.

The next mandatory reporting point is “The Clock” (Formerly Colgate), Sited on the Jersey shore near the Goldman Sachs Building, a large gleaming glass skyscraper standing starkly on the western (Jersey) shore, not far north of the Statue of Liberty.

Notes for Flying the Hudson River VFR Corridor (continued)

The “Statue of Liberty” is the next to last mandatory reporting point, rising majestically from tiny Bedloes Island, close by the Jersey shore.

 

Proceeding across the Upper Bay and passing Governor’s Island below the southern tip of Manhattan, we approach The Verrazano Bridge, (our last mandatory reporting point on the southbound leg, report as “VZ”) which guards the northern limit of the Lower Bay. This bridge connects the City’s Borough of Staten Island with Brooklyn.  Now, the sightseeing pilot again has the option of climbing to maintain less than 1500 feet MSL. The Verrazano, named after the earliest European navigator to reach this part of North America, is a large suspension span looking like a modernized version of the George Washington. This should not be surprising as they were both designed by the same man. 

The FAA’s “Suggests” the following procedure for pilots wishing to circle the Statue of Liberty: If proceeding southbound, remain in the transient corridor for the entire passage down the river at altitude between 1000 and 1299 feet until south of the VZ. Then descend to below 1000 feet, turn northbound up the river and circle the Statue in a counterclockwise direction, being careful not to cross the Colts Neck (115.4 COL) 023 radial to avoid incursions into EWR’s Class B airspace. To avoid violations, it is best to maintain 2000 feet laterally from the shore of the statue’s base (Bedloes Island). After completing the circling maneuver the aircraft may then exit the corridor to the south, passing the VZ, before climbing back up to the “Transient” altitude of between 1000 and 1299 feet in order to make the return trip.

For those passing through, rather than sightseeing, proceeding south and west of the northern tip of Sandy Hook; a five mile spit of sand jutting Northward from the New Jersey shore into the Lower Bay, (and looking exactly like its depiction on the TCA Chart) the VFR pilot has the option of climbing to maintain less than 3000 feet.  Proceeding further to the Southwest, when the flight is less than two miles north of the Colts Neck VOR, it is clear of the New York Class B. The VFR pilot is then free to climb to an altitude of his choosing.

 

This completes the southbound traverse of the Hudson River VFR Corridor.

A pilot wishing to complete the trip by returning north will find ample room to turn back. After the Verrazano I’d recommend a left turn over the Lower Bay to avoid any airspace conflicts. Of course, it will be necessary to reverse the order of reporting points on the way back.

In the past, prior to the Cory Lidell fiasco, it was possible to turn left over the Bay to proceed a few miles up the East River under VFR. The rules have changed. This stretch has been made “VFR for helicopters and landing seaplanes only.” Now, you’ll need a clearance from La Guardia Tower to enter and traverse this reach. In the past I have found LaGuardia quite cooperative and willing, not only to grant my request, but to give me step by step guidance right through this incredibly crowded and busy airspace. On one occasion, the controller even vectored me directly over LaGuardia’s tower at 1500 feet.

 

Notes for Flying the Hudson River VFR Corridor (continued)

Flying "The Corridor" is complex and demanding enough that I think a VFR pilot with no prior experience of flying in the New York City area would be well advised to seek the advice and assistance of someone who has this experience before attempting it.  If he is planning to use The Corridor in order to avoid having to obtain a clearance to transit the New York Class B, he should keep in mind that if he runs into problems and needs a clearance into the TCA, it may not be forthcoming.  In such a case he'll need a good "Plan B," especially if he is not confident of his abilities to navigate the complexities of the Corridor. On the positive side, I’ll note that I’ve used the Corridor more than once to avoid the hassles; delays and circuitous routing that are par for the course, during ATC’s busy times, when filing through the Class B for trips South and West.

 

An additional caution is for the pilot to be VERY sure of the accuracy of his mode "C" transponder's blind altitude encoder.  He should assume that ATC may be watching him closely.  Any deviation he might make above the altitude restrictions will very likely result in a violation being filed against him.  The penalty is so severe that I always make a point of staying at least a good 100 feet below the limiting altitude. 

It should be noted that ATC uses the airspace down to and including 1500 feet MSL for Class B operations. So, the VFR pilot had best stay a hundred feet or so below ATC’s vectoring altitude. Also, for these reasons, I will usually ask ATC what altitude they are painting for my plane prior to my entry into the Corridor, just to be damned good and sure a bum encoder isn’t going to earn me a violation. I’ve seen as much as a couple of hundred feet disagreement between the plane’s altimeter, set to the official Barometric reading for the area, and the output of my transponder. This effect is most pronounced in very cold weather.

When flying in such a “High Rent” neighborhood it would be best to have the company of another “pair of eyes” to search for traffic. I wouldn’t bet on the TIS Traffic Alert System in our Dakota, either -- the coverage would be spotty at best and the numerous targets would likely swamp the system.

We may be relieved to note that aircraft remaining within the lateral and vertical limits of the Corridor, are exempt from observing The FAA’s regulation on “proximity to persons and structures on the surface,” as well as, the one on maintaining “an altitude such that in an emergency there will be no hazard to persons and property on the surface.”

 

 

So...Go have fun; but do stay out of trouble!

 

 

Respectfully submitted, John Barrett 

 

 

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download