Who is familiar with boston, nyc, and/or dc airspace for tour flights?

[Curyfury]

Im going to be ferrying a helicopter from maine and would love to fly through these big cities to check out the skyline. If anyone is very familiar with the tour routes and would like to share their local knowledge, id like to talk to you. Pm me and we will go from there. Thanks.

 

Is a DC tour flight even possible?

[Bootcamp]

Boston I've only "flown by".

 

New York - take the online training course on FAASafety.gov. The easiest thing for newbies is to stick to the Hudson River Route southbound (on the NJ side). Keep a NYC Heli Route chart with you. Make position reports on 123.05. Everyone speaks very fast and the UNICOM services at JRB will often tie up the frequency. Look for traffic departing from JRA and JRB as well as seaplane traffic. Stay below the Class B and you shouldn't have any problems. Just be vigilant at looking for traffic. Start the Hudson River route at the GW Bridge and stay on it all the way down past the Statue of Liberty to the Verrazano Bridge. After you pass the Verrazano bridge, the busy airspace is pretty much over.

 

Philadelphia - Pick up the Delaware River north east of PNE. Talk to Northeast Tower and ask for a hand-off to Philly Tower (if possible). Look for helicopter traffic departing from P72. If you have a second radio, use one to talk to Philly Tower and use the other to monitor helicopter air-to-air (123.02). Philly Tower should clear you thru the Class B if you stay below 500 feet on the river. They may need to temporarily vector you away for landing traffic depending on which runways are in use. Watch out for a set of tall high tension wires just south of PHL over the river. Get a hand-off to ILG tower after leaving the Class B (if possible).

 

Baltimore - take the online training course on FAASafety.gov for the DC SFRA prior to flying within 60 NM of DCA. File your DC SFRA flight plan on the ground prior reaching the outskirts of Baltimore City. I recommend filing it on Foreflight as they have a specific option for a DC SFRA flight. Use PALEO as your departure point and some other gate for your destination point (WHINO if departing to the south, LUCKE if departing to the west). Assuming you're following I-95 SB, make sure to talk to Phillips Tower and Martin Tower before ever reaching the DC SFRA. If you have a second radio, make sure to make position reports on 123.02. The most common traffic you will talk to is the BCPD, MD State PD, a few EMS helicopters, two news helicopters, and the folks at Middle River Aviation. As soon as you pass MTN on your left (even before you leave the Class D), request a frequency change to Potomac Approach. Call Potomac Approach on 133.775: "Potomac Approach, Helicopter 12345 off Martin State, SFRA on file." They will come back and give you a squawk code. Make sure NOT to enter the DC SFRA without a squawk code and without hearing the words, "RADAR CONTACT" from Potomac Approach. Also keep in mind that this is NOT a class B clearance. You will hear them say, "Remain clear of Class B". This is where you make your Class B request. Keep in mind that all of this will take place over the course of about 8 NM, so be prepared to circle or slow down. Potomac Approach will probably instruct you to switch to Baltimore Tower on 119.4. After switching over, you will once again need to make the Class B request with them. Request either the "4-22 transition" which will take you directly over BWI Airport or request to follow I-95. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND a handheld GPS from this point on. If you request the 4-22 transition, use your GPS to fly directly over BWI airport over the unused Runway 4-22. If you request the I-95 transition, make sure to follow I-95 south thru Howard County. You may need to deviate right if they have a departure from BWI right as you're cruising down I-95.

 

WHAT FOLLOWS IS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL IF YOU DECIDE TO TOUR BALTIMORE:

 

Make sure you deviate around the DC Flight Restricted Zone (FRZ) - depicted as the white "circle" on sectional and terminal charts. Unless you have connections in high places, you won't be able to get any closer to DCA than 15 NM and if you do, expect an interception and possibly losing your license. If you are following I-95, the "point of no return" is tall office building immediately on your right about two miles south of VPONX.

 

After leaving the Baltimore area, depart to the southeast or due west, but continue to remain on frequency with Potomac Approach until you leave the DC SFRA. Whatever you do, do not squawk 1200 at any time in the DC SFRA. If you decide to land at an airport inside the DC SFRA, make sure you know the appropriate departure procedures for getting airborne again (there are four different procedures, depending on which airport you land at). If you want to continue flight following after leaving the DC SFRA, make sure to make the request with Potomac Approach prior to leaving the DC SFRA.

 

Washington D.C. - Isn't going to happen. I've been barking up this tree for 8 years.

 

Fly Safe! Call me if you have any questions.

[CharyouTree]

Boston is easy. Heli chart, on freq with skyways (124.725?) The routes go off the landmarks/major roads/Charles River. Just ask for what you want, for example coming from the North "in the Tobin, out the Piker". Follow the rules of the road. You can always ask for anything else. Delay/orbiting somewhere, if you're not under the approach path, just ask for it. Tell them local area orientation, if you want, but don't expect to orbit around downtown/Fenway. Nothing saying you can't leave, reverse route, and leave via a different route though, as long as they clear you.

 

If you have any specific questions, ask. But...it's fairly simple aviating.

[d10]

I'm familiar with the DC area, Bootcamp covered that pretty well. If you want to check out Baltimore be aware that most of the landmarks are just within BWI's class B, but they deal with a lot of helicopter traffic so you should be OK if you just tell them you want to operate in their airspace for a while. Be familiar with the zones and routes on the helicopter route chart you want to use. The 04-22 transition that Bootcamp mentioned isn't published anywhere AFAIK but it's the default request for all of the helicopters transitioning between Martin State and the DC area so it probably gets more use than the published route following I-95.

 

I agree that there's no chance of touring DC and there's nothing particularly interesting to sightsee outside of the 15nm ring. If you avoid DC airspace to the west over Dulles, be aware that they get less helicopter traffic than BWI, only a few of their controllers are familiar with the published helicopter zones and routes in their airspace, and some of them are downright hostile to helicopter traffic. Be prepared for denied requests and rerouting in that area.

 

Try to get an idea of the Potomac Approach sector frequencies you might need and then be prepared for them to change. There are three frequencies specifically for VFR traffic in the SFRA but they're not monitored on any specific schedule. If it's a clear day with a lot of VFR traffic they'll be operating, at night or in marginal weather you'll need to find the appropriate sector frequency. Those can change too depending on where the traffic is or what controller's on shift or who knows what else. Don't feel like you've screwed up if you contact approach on one frequency and they immediately hand you off to another.

 

I'll reiterate never squawk 1200 within the SFRA (30nm of DCA) and always be in contact with ATC (either a tower or Potomac Approach).