Flight Training - Long Island

Just in case you thought I did all my flying in the Southwest, here's a plug for one of the best flight training centers I have seen - in Long Island, no less. The Academy of Aviation at Farmingdale's Republic airport (KFRG) has a wonderful fleet of Garmin 1000 glass cockpit cessnas. After a very pleasant check out with Mike Trzaska, I was off on a picturesque 30 minute flight over Long Island Sound towards Connecticut.

Flying the Glass Cockpit for the first time in my checkout was a concern, but Mike quickly put me at ease by pointing out that the Garmin protocols were very similar to the 530 and 430 with which I was familiar. It was fairly easy to transition, but I found my head inside the cockpit more than out, which is not good. The only saving grace for that was the on-board TIS that pointed out all the traffic I couldn't see in the haze anyway.

Shortly after take off on Runway 19, a downwind departure brought the Northport Stacks into view (the white speck on the north shore of Long Island Sound in the photo). After a short 10 minutes over the water we were "feet dry" on the Connecticut side. The destination airport, Waterbury Oxford (KOXC) is just another 10 minutes north.

Our destination that day was a beautiful spot in Northwestern CT called Bantam Lake. Pictured here is one of the isolated coves. The entire flight was about 28 minutes long, but to drive there from Long Island, over the Whitestone Bridge and up the Hutchinson Parkway (named for Ann Hutchinson b. 1591) would have easily taken two and a half hours. In fact, at around $150 per hour wet, the round trip was less expensive than one night in the hotel in Long Island.

Waterbury Oxford airport is a favored RON for many Part 135 corporate jets and has an ample runway. It is a little prone to morning fog so your take-off might be delayed unless you go in for the zero-zero departure. While I don't fly in CT that much anymore, it was where I learned to "fly floats." I'm not sure its still in operation, but the training base at 42B was exciting. We spent 2 days flying up and down the Connecticut River and adjacent small lakes, never getting more than 500 feet high!

If you get a chance, New England flying is some of the most beautiful in the country.