Spontaneous Touch and Go at LaGuardia Airport KLGA

[201er]

Took my wife up flying for her first time since February. Started with a lap of the city by taking the Hudson with Newark Tower and over to the East River with LaGuardia Tower. From the East river, we went overhead Central Park and continued north. Course reversal at the George Washington bridge and then a request with LaGuardia tower: full-stop taxi-back 31. They came back with enter left downwind 31. Initially cleared exclusively for touch & go, then full stop, settled on cleared for the option.

Tight turn around Citi Field put us on a perfect line up for 31. With a strong headwind, touch down was very slow and delicate. Let it roll a while to put some weight on the LaGuardia pavement and then firewalled it for a quick takeoff. Pulled up the gear and rocketed up. Another crossing of Central Park returned us to the Hudson. Continued south and then got a cross over the 4 numbers at Newark, direct Linden.

Picked up the audio from LiveATC and placed it more or less around the relevant parts. Enjoy.

 

[GeeBee]

Been a long time since I saw the Expressway visual to 31. I remember doing it from the right seat of a 767 where you can never see the runway till you roll out on final!

 

[carusoam]

Score!

Mike gets the trifecta! 

EWR, JFK, & LGA

Go NYC!

Super clear day, so much detail on the cover pic.

Best regards,

-a-

[BlueDun]

Did a night landing at Newark this summer to drop a passenger. Totally reasonable. With little traffic in the air and ground, it was the best choice. Lights are unbelievable. It was a fast approach with that long runway and final.

Enjoyed this fun exchange with Tower. We were about to join final for the visual 4R. 

Tower: "2PS, do you see that [jet type] ahead of you?

2PS: "Affirm."

Tower: "Follow him in. Caution wake turbulence. He may pull away from you now."

2PS: "Roger. Following traffic, 2PS"

Tower: "United xxx, Help him out and keep your speed up on final."

United: "Ok, we'll keep our speed up. Uh, could I ask what's following us?"

Tower: "A Mooney."

United: "[chuckling amusement] Alright!"

-----

I will admit there was a high five in the cockpit on hearing Tower ask a jet to keep its speed up for us.

New York controllers are terrific and this is a great Mooney memory.

Edited December 16, 2020 by BlueDun

[steingar]

No birds?

[flyboy0681]

Damn it Mike, why do you always get to live out my childhood fantasies?

[EricJ]

Nice!

And great job by the videographer to get good views of the landmarks and the landing and all that.

Thanks for posting!

 

[BlueDun]

@201er What was the left turn instruction from Tower after takeoff? I could not understand it.

[201er]

1 hour ago, BlueDun said:

@201er What was the left turn instruction from Tower after takeoff? I could not understand it.

“Start your left turn toward the north tip of Roosevelt Island and contact the tower 126.05”

[Derek]

@201erWas the north tip in the inbound clearance also in reference to roosevelt island, or was that for the north tip of central park?

Been trying to work up the guts to try and request this for my year of Mooney ownership so far (based up the Hudson river a few miles)...

[201er]

1 hour ago, Derek said:

@201erWas the north tip in the inbound clearance also in reference to roosevelt island, or was that for the north tip of central park?

Yup.

And I wouldn’t recommend it unless you have extensive experience flying into busy Delta’s and Charlie’s and preferably instrument experience. They can sense hesitation in your voice so you gotta be on top of your game. 

[Derek]

4 hours ago, 201er said:

They can sense hesitation

So true.

 

Thanks for the advice.

[BlueDun]

6 hours ago, 201er said:

“Start your left turn toward the north tip of Roosevelt Island and contact the tower 126.05”

Thank you. I noticed this reference is not on the NYC TAC, SFRA, or Skyline charts. It is on the NYC Heli Chart. As a tip to all, I do find it useful to have that chart aboard and to review the Heli and other charts prior to flying the corridor etc. Nice work. NY controllers really are incredible and accommodating, but you do have to be on your game. Flew it at least 4x this year.

[81X]

23 hours ago, BlueDun said:

Did a night landing at Newark this summer to drop a passenger. Totally reasonable. With little traffic in the air and ground, it was the best choice. Lights are unbelievable. It was a fast approach with that long runway and final.

Enjoyed this fun exchange with Tower. We were about to join final for the visual 4R. 

Tower: "2PS, do you see that [jet type] ahead of you?

2PS: "Affirm."

Tower: "Follow him in. Caution wake turbulence. He may pull away from you now."

2PS: "Roger. Following traffic, 2PS"

Tower: "United xxx, Help him out and keep your speed up on final."

United: "Ok, we'll keep our speed up. Uh, could I ask what's following us?"

Tower: "A Mooney."

United: "[chuckling amusement] Alright!"

-----

I will admit there was a high five in the cockpit on hearing Tower ask a jet to keep its speed up for us.

New York controllers are terrific and this is a great Mooney memory.

Being in the Southeast these days, I miss NY controllers and agree they are the best out there.  500+ hours in a Cherokee in that area and I always enjoyed the fast paced nature, professionalism, and of course the random joke/snark/edginess. 

[carusoam]

Roosevelt island is interesting...

It is a retirement community.  Access to the island is a giant aerial tram... like a big ski lift.

At least something I was told... 

From the ground, it is hard to tell where it is, what it is, or how to get there without a map...

There are a few islands around Manhattan that are a bit mysterious... city planning defined what the uses of each island were...

Best regards,

-a-

[icurnmedic]

Really enjoyed the video. Never been to NYC, likely never will, but truly appreciate the video. 

[Flash]

9 minutes ago, carusoam said:

Roosevelt island is interesting...

It is a retirement community.  Access to the island is a giant aerial tram... like a big ski lift.

At least something I was told... 

From the ground, it is hard to tell where it is, what it is, or how to get there without a map...

There are a few islands around Manhattan that are a bit mysterious... city planning defined what the uses of each island were...

Best regards,

-a-

Giant aerial tram, or short bridge from Queens, or the F train (subway), or the ferry (Astoria line).

[Flash]

2 minutes ago, icurnmedic said:

Really enjoyed the video. Never been to NYC, likely never will, but truly appreciate the video. 

You really ought to consider flying the Hudson River exclusion sometime. It's easy, the navigation is simple, you self-report your position (easy to identify reporting points), and the views are outstanding. No need to land at any of those airports or go into NYC on the ground.

[201er]