Flying through the Hudson Exclusion and NYC

As many readers know, my husband is a pilot.  While I haven’t mentioned it much recently, we go on shorter, private, flights together.  No, we don’t own an airplane but since my husband has his General Aviation license, we are able to rent certain aircraft as well.

So with that, last weekend we decided to go flying!

The pilot himself

And of course, it would not be complete without an awkward Instagram stories selfie.me selfie private flying

My husband and I have flown several times together.  He flies, I take photos and hope I don’t puke (which yes, has happened).  Sometimes, we just fly down to on our favorite restaurants: Georges Place in Cape May.  Other times, we fly to North Jersey like Pompton Plains. Last weekend, we decided to do a flight from Berlin, NJ to Oxford, CT.  It was our longest private flight together.

South jersey
Southern New Jersey

While planning the trip, we ran into a few Snafus.  President Trump was in Northern NJ which puts flight restrictions into the air.  There are certain places you can’t fly as well as other places you must fly at a certain altitude.  Depending on who is in town, it can shut down a lot of private flying.  Since Trump frequently visits Bedminster, NJ it has shut down a lot of weekend flights.

If you break any of the rules that are put in place, your plane can be escorted out by an F-16 or shot down. Last weekend, most of Western NJ was shut down but we were able to find a cut through to CT by way of the Hudson.  There were plenty of military aircraft patrolling NYC.

As we flew up, it was neat to be able to fly over Mcguire AFB and see all of the planes lined up. While they look tiny, I can assure you they are not.

mcguire AFB

Comparison: standing in front of a single engine of one of those planes last year.

Standing next to one of the engines

After that, we headed right up to Northern, NY and to NYC.  I didn’t expect how close we would be able to get to the buildings.  It was incredible and truly breath taking.new york city private flying

It eventually led to a selfie next to the new World Trade Center Building.

new york city by flight new york city by flight

private flying nyc me selfie

After that, we headed up to Oxford, CT.  We chose the airport because we knew there was a nice restaurant there and we could grab a bite to eat and fly back!

The trip back was just as beautiful.  The sun was slowly setting, so we were able to see a gorgeous sunset along the Hudson.

reentering the hudson
reentering the Hudson
ellis island and the statue of liberty
Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty
statue of liberty
Lady Liberty Herself

Jersey City Area:

Sandy Hook and Jersey Shore 

sunset new jersey flight

The total flying time was about 3 hours and it went perfectly.  We had a great time flying and saw a lot of great views.

Other Flying Related Posts:
Flying to Cape May
Flying to Pompton Plains

Questions for you:
Have you ever flown in a small aircraft?
Have you been to NYC?  

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8 Comments

  1. OH MY GOSH — I can’t believe how close you got to the city! That’s awesome! I have been to NYC once — with my parents (lol whomp whommmmp). I should probably go again as an adult who can pay for their own stuff.<3

  2. These pictures are seriously awesome! My aunt was a pilot in southern Africa and I loved flying with here in planes like this. It is a totally different flying experience.

      1. Yea I flew all over South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique. The prettiest was when we did a flyover of Victoria Falls. It was so pretty! I would highly recommend it.

  3. Very cool! Thanks for sharing your experience. I would love to learn to fly when I retire.

  4. Wow!! The views you had are incredible!! Have been to NYC twice – the first time I was at the top of the world trade centre on September 3, 2001 – crazy, eh?! The only time I have been on a small aircraft like that was when it was taking me for some skydiving!

  5. The pics are awesome and I’m so jealous of your date night! I’m glad you and Tim got to spend some quality time together and fly. I never realized that a private plane could be shot down for flying in a certain area because the president was there, though. That’s serious business, but I guess the military has to do what they have to do post 9-11.

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