Toks Desalu wrote:

I would need a tie down for a couple days near NYC. My friend lives in
Manhattan. Which airport do you recommend(non-controlled airport preferred)?
Cost?

Republic Airport at Farmingdale (KFRG) is nice -- I was there a bit over a
week ago. The airport is controlled, but it's mixed-use with a lot of VFR
traffic and a fairly laid-back tower. Tied-down for my Warrior at the Long
Island Jet Center was USD 10/night, with the first night free after I filled
up (gas was quite expensive). The airport is a five-minute drive from the
Long Island Railroad station. There's a train into Manhattan's Penn Station
(about a 10 minute walk south of Times Square) at least every hour during
the day, and it's inexpensive. On the other hand, Republic is on the wrong
side of NYC for you, so it probably doesn't make sense unless you fly across
to Albany and then south from there.

I've also flown into Caldwell, NJ (KCDW), which has a tower and mostly
small-airplane traffic. The airport was friendly enough, but it was a major
pain in the behind getting into Manhattan from the airport, and even worse
getting back late at night. I don't remember the tie-down cost, but you can
check it on airnav.com. Caldwell is a fair bit closer to you, so it might
be your best bet, but sort out ground transportation first. A taxi or car
and driver into Manhattan can easily take 90 minutes (at least that was my
experience) and cost over USD 70.00, so find out about trains and busses or
see if your friend will drive out and pick you up.

Next time, if I'm in a hurry I might try Teterboro on the Jersey side. From
what I've heard, it's a cheap cab ride from Manhattan out to Teterboro, but
a ridiculously expensive ride from Teterboro into Manhattan. If you don't
like controlled airports, though, I doubt you'd like Teterboro much, since
it's very busy -- it's also more expensive to tie down.

You might have a long flight home in a Cessna 150 -- a 30 kt headwind would
have the cars passing you below. Unless you want to take your time and
enjoy the scenery for quite a few hours, you might want to consider renting
the Warrior instead.


All the best, and have fun,


David