Closest airfield to NYC to fly gliders or to keep a SLMG

agreed. I should have been more specific

On Tuesday, December 23, 2014 4:13:53 PM UTC-5, wrote:
On Tuesday, December 23, 2014 9:14:02 AM UTC-5, Bob Pasker wrote:
On Saturday, December 6, 2014 3:08:20 AM UTC-5, albs wrote:
I live in Europe and will be relocating to New York City next spring. Which would be the closest airfield where I could keep a SLMG (doesn't necessarily need to be a glider club) or the closets airfield where gliders are operated (which and/or tow)? Any that you'd recommend in particular?
thank you

I live in downtown Manhattan, grew up in the area, have lived in NYC all my adult life, and have landed at nearly every airport in NJ.

One thing you have to ask yourself is do you want fly out a glider community? or is any airport OK?

If you want a glider community, then you have already heard from the people in this group.

If you're happy with a "airplane airport," then you're right, Lincoln Park is a good non-towered airport, but it is still a fair trip from Manhattan.

Another alternative is (and I can hear the groans now) Linden airport. Its a fairly quiet airport, has a low volume, and is mostly used by commercial heli ops in NJ. The challenge is that it sits underneath an 800ft shelf of Newark's Class B, and 3 miles south of the surface area. Since you have a PPL, the radios and navigation should be no problem for you. Its a very quick trip to Linden from downtown Manhattan, and there are hangars and tiedowns.

The travel times mentioned to Blairsdown, Wurstburo, or Middletown are accurate, but they are best case only on if the timing is right. You could make it all the way from Blairstown to the Holland Tunnel in 45 minutes, and then wait 30-45 minutes at the tunnel toll. I know this because my in-laws live right near there.

Good luck with your move, and feel free to contact me if you want to chat privately about being a NYC-based pilot.

http://skyvector.com/?ll=40.58474990...art=119&zoom=3

I live 5 minutes from Lincoln Park airport and do not consider it suitable for any but the most powerful of self launch sailplanes. This is due to size as well as the airport environment. There are no options if something does not go right.
As to flying out of Linden, I would presume that the thought is to fly a touring motor glider out of there. Flying a true self launch sailplane would seem to make very little sense, given the constraints on exiting and entering the airspace. Flying a soaring type final glide into there would be folly.
FWIW
UH

@Bob - Welcome to the tribe! One thing I would strongly suggest is working through your B,C, Bronze, and Silver badges. The requirements for each badge get you increasingly prepared for cross country flight.

Lou