Flying the busy Hudson River Corridor past New York skyscrapers is a classic mission for general aviation pilots. If you take relatives and friends for rides there, they will never forget the experience.
But if, like me, you would rather see the river with more altitude and less traffic, fly north. Once free of New York’s Class B airspace you can start spotting cities and towns along the river like Haverstraw, Croton-on-Hudson and West Point (remember to stay clear of the small ring of restricted airspace over the U.S. Military Academy). Continue past Peekskill, Beacon and Poughkeepsie and, about 80 nm north of New York City, you will reach Kingston.
