Landing to access New York City

[Bolter]

I figured this would have come up before, but my search did not find much to go on. This is aimed at those Mooniacs that fly the NYC area regularly.

This is my situation. I am taking time off from LA in early October and will fly coast to coast seeing friends and family for about 4 weeks. This may be a rare opportunity to real use the Mooney for its ideal application of light and fast travel across long distances.

I have an aunt in Beechhurst (5 miles straight line from LGA) that I should visit, but I am not sure how practical it is. Do I land LaGuardia and suck up the cost of their fees and fuel? Looking in detail, I am not sure they even offer transient parking at the FBO I found listed, Sheltair. Is this FBO recommended? Or land out on Long Island and rent a car to drive back to the city? Or is Teterboro the compromise? At some point it becomes too complicated or expensive to visit, and I stick to people who appreciate me enough to live near GA airports.

Also, my only long stretch without a good distraction or friend is between Chicago and Colorado Springs. I can do this in a day, no problem, but having never touched the ground in the fly-over states, I am welcome to suggestions for a scenic or interesting stop along the way.

thanks

-dan

[jackn]

I have never landed at one of the majors. I have friends who have dropped off/Picked up passengers, but getting a landing clearance may be tough. Most GA either uses TEB or FRG, then rent a car. TEB does get very busy, you may have to wait a while to get a takeoff clearance especially Friday & Mondays. October is the most scenic month in the Northeast. The autumn colors are peaking and the weather is usually great. I recommend hiking the Applachian Trail. Since it goes from Georgia to Maine, you can pick a hike wherever. I like where it crosses the Hudson River just north of NYC. Westchester(HPN) is a good airport for this.

Just be aware that Oct is election time. As NYC is the Democrats main ATM, there are TFR popping up all the time. Just check, Also, make sure you get a chance to fly the Hudson River corridor.

[Z W]

I flew into LaGuardia last weekend commercial. Elected not to go GA because of the fees and also the time restrictive nature of the trip. It looked very crowded on the GA ramp.

For your fuel stop in eastern Colorado / Kansas, my favorite so far has been Liberal, KS (KLBL). There's an airspace museum on the field (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-America_Air_Museum), and lots of old military craft parked outside. Kind of neat. Two big runways, decent fuel price, good services. Or, Lee's Summit, Missouri (KLXT) makes a pretty good fuel stop, and you'll fly right by downtown Kansas City to get there.

[aviatoreb]

I figured this would have come up before, but my search did not find much to go on. This is aimed at those Mooniacs that fly the NYC area regularly.

This is my situation. I am taking time off from LA in early October and will fly coast to coast seeing friends and family for about 4 weeks. This may be a rare opportunity to real use the Mooney for its ideal application of light and fast travel across long distances.

I have an aunt in Beechhurst (5 miles straight line from LGA) that I should visit, but I am not sure how practical it is. Do I land LaGuardia and suck up the cost of their fees and fuel? Looking in detail, I am not sure they even offer transient parking at the FBO I found listed, Sheltair. Is this FBO recommended? Or land out on Long Island and rent a car to drive back to the city? Or is Teterboro the compromise? At some point it becomes too complicated or expensive to visit, and I stick to people who appreciate me enough to live near GA airports.

Also, my only long stretch without a good distraction or friend is between Chicago and Colorado Springs. I can do this in a day, no problem, but having never touched the ground in the fly-over states, I am welcome to suggestions for a scenic or interesting stop along the way.

thanks

-dan

I like Westchester County airport, KHPN. They pick me up in the crew car right on the tarmac, and then drive me 5 min to the train and which brings me quickly right down to grand central station. Quick and easy.

[Bolter]

I appreciate the tips. With a limited stay, I can't spend 2-3 hours on the trains (though I love trains, normally) so it means taxi's or rental cars. I just sent an e-mail to Sheltair to get the details, if it is even practical to land LGA. Looking at these other airports, the transportation costs will be more than the crazy ramp fees I expect from LGA. If I get a response, I'll let you know.

The LBL airport and air museum seems like a good arbitrary place to land. I'll keep it on the short list.

-dan

[aviatoreb]

I appreciate the tips. With a limited stay, I can't spend 2-3 hours on the trains (though I love trains, normally) so it means taxi's or rental cars. I just sent an e-mail to Sheltair to get the details, if it is even practical to land LGA. Looking at these other airports, the transportation costs will be more than the crazy ramp fees I expect from LGA. If I get a response, I'll let you know.

The LBL airport and air museum seems like a good arbitrary place to land. I'll keep it on the short list.

-dan

I hear ya - really it is surprisingly quick from wheels down to grand central station/downtown Manhatten. I would say 45 min easily including the 5 min to the station and the 5 min waiting for train and trains run frequently. That cannot be beat in a car considering traffic.

[Bolter]

I hear ya - really it is surprisingly quick from wheels down to grand central station/downtown Manhatten. I would say 45 min easily including the 5 min to the station and the 5 min waiting for train and trains run frequently. That cannot be beat in a car considering traffic.

All true. But to get to Beechhurst (near Throggs Neck Bridge), I have to connect at Grand Central and take another 45 minutes. Add wait time, and it is a 2 hour commute from plane to elderly aunt. The rails are hub and spoke. A car drive is 30-40 minutes. I have not been back to NYC in ten years or more, so I am relying on Google for times and distances.

[GaryP1007]

I think KFRG and KHPN are your best options.

[bnicolette]

I would recommend landing @ KTEB. Meridian is a great FBO and will take great care of you. Stay away from Jet Aviation as it is ALL corporate jets and probably won't want to deal with you. I see small GA airplanes at Meridian quite often. Departing late afternoon to early evening is the busy time, other than that there shouldn't be any issues. KTEB is an easy in and out other than the times I mentioned.

[aviatoreb]

All true. But to get to Beechhurst (near Throggs Neck Bridge), I have to connect at Grand Central and take another 45 minutes. Add wait time, and it is a 2 hour commute from plane to elderly aunt. The rails are hub and spoke. A car drive is 30-40 minutes. I have not been back to NYC in ten years or more, so I am relying on Google for times and distances.

Hi - Oops - I did read your post but somehow it didn't click how far out front he city. yeah - you want a car.

[flyboy0681]

The minimum landing fee at LGA is $350 for GA.

That said, Teterboro or Essex County (CDW) in New Jersey are your best bets.

[moodychief]

Flying from Chicago to Colorado, you should consider a fuel and food stop at Atlantic Iowa. It is not quite half way but I guarantee it is worth the stop. We diverted in there last year and was surprised what we found. There is a place in town called the Farmer's Kitchen (I believe) that won the blue ribbon in the National Crisco Baking competition for their Peanut Butter Explosion pie. It was so good I bought a whole pie to share with my family back home. If you don't like peanut butter and chocolate, they also had about every kind of homemade pie possible in the 6 foot tall refrigerated pie case. I believe they also have the chili that won the 2007 National Chili cookoff People's Choice Award. The airport has an old police car as their courtesy car you can use to get into town with.

[Bolter]

Moodychief: You are putting me into a situation where I will be torn between options.

Flyboy0681: At $350, I think you have clarified my options for me!

-dan

[carusoam]

From the NJ side of the equation..

Teterboro is closest, but busiest as a reliever for corporate jets. But still usable.

Fairfield, Essex County, Class D. Easy in/out. Last hangar of JFK Jr.

Linden, just south of Newark. unhappy customers on this site from years ago

Expect rental cars at all of them for realistic personal transportation...

Best regards,

-a-

[Hank]

I can't say anything about NYC. But you may want a detour north of Iowa - Colorado. Remember "it SUX to go to KRAP" as my wife said. Go past SUX, land at KRAP and see Mt. Rushmore. The FBO gets really good hotel rates when they make the call. Just don't land at the Air Force base no matter how tempting that 13,000 foot SAC runway looks.

[Bolter]

I can't say anything about NYC. But you may want a detour north of Iowa - Colorado. Remember "it SUX to go to KRAP" as my wife said. Go past SUX, land at KRAP and see Mt. Rushmore. The FBO gets really good hotel rates when they make the call. Just don't land at the Air Force base no matter how tempting that 13,000 foot SAC runway looks.

Hank: My non-aviating father suggested Mt. Rushmore, so I was just looking at it when this posted. I have never been, making it another tempting option. We have a former B52 base here that we can land on, KMER. One 12k foot runway.

Carusoam: Thanks for the Jersey rundown.

After all of this bench flying, I am pumped for this coast to coast trip.

-dan

[Hank]

Rushmore is worth the detour! I stopped westbound from WV to Yellowstone, as a planned overnight. Hoped to see Sitting Bull, too, but opted instead to hang around for the evening laser light show and salute to veterans. [i am a Marine brat; my wife is an Army brat; staying seemed like the right thing to both of us.] It was a good show. West of there, the Badlands look really bad and inhospitable.

[gsengle]

No no no, there is only one good answer! I live in queens (near your aunt) and have a mooney that I keep in new england but often fly home. The right and IMHO only right answer is KFRG, Farmingdale NY. It has good access to the railroad, has a great FBO (sheltair has been awesome to me) and the landing fee is I believe $1.50 for light singles. 30 min drive from your aunt if you rent a car. Busy airport, but not as busy as TEB - you don't need that hassle. And I've had the mooney into midway in chicago, and I'd never consider going into the insanity that is LGA! I'd go into JFK before I did that...

Also, I did the transcon thing in the spring - was awesome. I second that Rapid City and Mount Rushmore is worth a stop. Also liked the museum of the US airforce near dayton... that was great. You could stop at first flight too...

g

[flyboy0681]

The right and IMHO only right answer is KFRG, Farmingdale NY.

This post actually brought a smile to my face. When growing up in the 1960's, my house was under the approach to runway 1 at Republic (FRG) and constantly seeing those low flying planes (mostly Cessna's) has got to be the single largest contributing factor to my love of aviation to this very day.

The last time I was there, around 1981, I attended a meeting hosted by then AOPA president John Baker. The subject was the introduction to the new Microwave Landing System.

[Bolter]

There are more potential detours than I have time for. While I love a fly-about without a plan, there are too many schedule anchors for me to hit all the cool places I will be flying over.

I am leaning towards FMG, but not because it the only right answer for Queens, but because of the other people I will end up seeing on Long Island. I did not give that as a requirement before, but it ended up being the tie breaker against HPN.

I did get a response from SheltAir at LGA. Costs are slightly under $350, but enough to take them off the list. It is the parking *per 8 hrs* that really kills it. $204 for an overnight parking space, and it saves me rental cars and 2-3 hours of my time. and I could start to consider it. But over $300 per night and it is way too much. I did appreciate that Sheltair wrote back, knowing I would probably be scared off. Give them points for that.

Landing $123.93

Parking $55.00 (per every 8 hour increment)

Facility $25.00 (waived with the fuel purchase of 7 gallons)

-dan

[gsengle]

oh, and not to mention that I believe LGA is one of the few airports (are there 5) like ORD that has a reservation system to get a landing slot...

but hmmm, there is also a sheltair at jfk now, I'd guess the fees are similar though...

[N201MKTurbo]

The only time I flew the Mooney to NYC I landed at KHPN. The fees and fuel are very reasonable. Took a taxi to the train and was in grand Central Station 45 min after landing. (lucky timing on the train) I checked the fees at all the other airports and the fees are very high.

[gsengle]

The only time I flew the Mooney to NYC I landed at KHPN. The fees and fuel are very reasonable. Took a taxi to the train and was in grand Central Station 45 min after landing. (lucky timing on the train) I checked the fees at all the other airports and the fees are very high.

The parking I find is cheaper at KFRG, and the landing fee is I think $1.50, and closer to the LIRR than HPN is to Metro North, and Sheltair will drop you, no taxi required...

[Cabanaboy]

[rbridges]

The minimum landing fee at LGA is $350 for GA.

That said, Teterboro or Essex County (CDW) in New Jersey are your best bets.

is this common at larger airports? I just about fell out of my chair when I read that. I guess I'll quit complaining about the $20-50 ramp fees I've seen around here.