Back in 2020, I wrote a column for this magazine titled, “The Question: Lists of One.” I was astonished at the lack of imagination from the general public in regard to the freedoms of GA. All anyone ever asked me (and continues to this day) is, “Who do we have to tell we’re coming?”
Last week, I made a flight that surprised even me, as far as the amount of trust, freedom, and length of leash. Demian Neufeld, a close friend and pilot, asked me if I wanted to do a formation flight down the Hudson River. He was finishing up his complex rating in a Cessna 182 RG and he and his CFI, Leslie Cruz, flew up to my home field of Sullivan County (KMSV) in Swan Lake, New York, where we both took fuel and planned our adventure. The plan was for Demian, a professional photographer, to shoot my aircraft with a long lens from the Cessna’s right seat while Leslie was PIC. We discussed frequencies—there were many. We would use 122.75 to talk discreetly between our aircraft, and 123.05 is the self-announcing CTAF frequency for the Hudson River SFRA. Newark (KEWR) and LaGuardia (KLGA) towers would be used to request the East River transition.
