Travelling around the world for business means spending a lot of time in airliners. Take-offs, landings, taxing, airport terminals, taxi rides, hotels in places where English is not a second language are part of the routine. Being in a different culture for weeks at a time then coming back to America can be a great change.
There are many international cities that are exciting, exotic and very different than many American cities. But there are also many places that are fascinating, interesting and exciting but they are not as great as America.
Being in the air for twelve hour flights can get boring but even though a trip from New York to Johannesburg or Tokyo takes a lot of time there’s always the anticipation of accomplishment with people who are different than Americans. But eventually the trip ends. Another ride to another foreign airport and finally getting back to New York.
The flights from Europe follow a routine. Over the North Atlantic. Flying over Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and then South West over Long Island on the way to Kennedy Airport. To see the lights of Manhattan from five miles high over the far end of Long Island is the best view on the planet. There are many wonderful places around the world but Manhattan at night from the air is the best way to see and appreciate the wonder of America.
There are three major airports in the New York – Newark area: JFK and Newark are international airports. La Guardia handles domestic flights. JFK has eight runways. The longest is 14,511 feet long. La Guardia has four, 7,000 foot long runways. Newark has six runways, the longest being 11,000 feet. teteroboro has four runways, the longest over 7.000 feet and White Plains/Westchester airport just north of NYC as four runways,. The longest are 6,500 feet. Farmingdale / Republic has four runways, the longest being 6.500 feet. Islip, now called McArthur has eight runways, the longest being 7,000 feet.
Here’s the pilot’s information about the runways at Kennedy Airport: Notice that one runway can be entered from either end. To avoid confusion each has a different label. Runway 31 L is 31 Left while the other parallel runway is 31 R for 31 Right. Runway 31L and runway 13 R are the same runway but they are labeled different depending on which way the aircraft is flying. Four runways become eight depending on the direction being flown.
The biggest NYC airport is JFK. Flying a small plane into JFK means parking it at the general aviation parking lot which is cheaper than parking a car in the car parking lot.
Flying over Manhattan at night is an incomparable experience. Stretched out from Newark, up the Hudson to White Plains, the boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island and all the way out Long Island; along the north shore of Long Island sound all the way along Connecticut, Rhode Islan, to Block Island, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket and up to Boston, and all the way down the New Jersey coast to Atlantic city and Cape May, it is dazzling. Stunningly beautiful and it is highly restricted air space because of the high volume of air traffic but to a good local pilot there are ways to show passengers how stunning Manhattan at night really is. There is no other place around the globe that offers such a display of an advanced civilized part of the world. By comparison, the Middle East is like a child’s sandbox but the cities of the United States offer many stunning displays at night. All of the great cities of America offer similar views. .
Don’t try to talk a pilot into going up to New York at night for a view from the air. Most pilots know how intense it is to fly around busy cities. Manhattan is not a place over which an inexperienced pilot should fly, especially at night. It’s not at all dangerous because the air traffic controllers are the best. they keep air traffic properly separated but it’s no place for pilots who care not experts at flying and for whom flying the aircraft is second nature because handling the instructions from air traffic control is as important as keeping the aircraft completely under control. But the view at night is worth making the trip.
There’s no place on the planet that’s as great to fly into as JFK at night except for flying south over the Bronx into La Guardia. There are more lights than stars in the sky and the runway lights don’t actually light up the runway. They show the sides of the runway and the pilot fly’s into the dark space between the runway lights. There’s one instrument on board that shows where the aircraft is on the glide slope. Follow that instrument and the aircraft arrives in the perfect place to land on the runway. What’s different is the rather easy to spot runway lights compared to the millions of lights all around New York City.
Knowing all that during a night time arrival into JFK makes arriving back in America after a week or two in any other place one of the best feelings. Coming back to America after being in some of the lesser places makes for a stronger feeling of the joy of being an American coming home to America. .
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