NY's busiest Heliports on Sunday and Monday?

[Tis]

Hey everyone,

after you kindly and very well answered a JFK spotting question of mine last year (http://nycaviation.com/forum/threads/37169-LGA-and-JFK-runway-usage-tomorrow-(6-28)-Brookville-safety), I'm back in your lovely city, and once again in need of a little help :-)

I'm basically on a sightseeing visit to the city only, but since my travel partner isn't feeling too well and prefers to stay at the hotel most of the day in this heat, this has opened up some possibilities to go chasing aircraft for me. 31L banking shots at JFK would have been my first choice, but only with clear blue skies. Same for all the other approach spots at JFK and LGA (I'm no big fan of cloudy plane-in-the-sky-shots *gg*).

So, I did some research about the city's Heliports as a quick and easy alternative, since I'm staying right at Times Square. I have found out that there are 3 (wow :-)), and Google also led me to an old posting here about their traffic, dating from 2007 (funnily enough answering the questions of a now good friend of mine!): http://nycaviation.com/forum/threads/25522-NYC-visit-August-24th-27th?p=343315&viewfull=1#post343315

Taking into account how often things change in aviation (one of the large chopper companies is out of business I see...), I wanted to check back how the situation (as for busyness, variety, accessibility) of the three is today.

I spent an hour at the Downtown/Wall Street Heliport this eve (about the single hour with a decent sun angle there :rolleyes: ), and while the Brooklyn backdrop was very nice, it lacked in variety and frequency a bit (just 2-3 airframes doing the tourist runs over and over again).

I still have Sunday (tomorrow) and Monday (until 6PM) left.

My guess would be that the Downtown one which seems to handle most of the tourist flights will be the busiest (or the only to be busy rather) of the three on Sunday. Correct?

I'm actually having higher hopes for Monday, when the business and commuter traffic kicks in again, and was hoping to catch some nice sleek private/company helicopters then. Which would be the best/busiest heliport for this undertaking? Any personal experiences which times are best in the morning and evening?

Canon 7D and 100-400m IS on the equipment side, so I guess I should be covered distance-wise at all three.



I'm sorry for the short notice-posting, but I'm sure someone of you kind guys will take care of my questions. Continuing my tradition started the last time I was here, two shots from my home country as a small 'thank you' gesture :-D

One of many choppers during the World Cup Downhill ski race at Wengen, with Eiger and Mönch mountains in the back.

http://www.planepics.org/spotterbrowser/sp/2011/lbh0115/86.jpg

Our national demonstration squad, the Patrouille Suisse (at the same event)

http://www.planepics.org/spotterbrowser/sp/2011/lbh0114/5.jpg


Oh, and one from the US - guess where (NOT the NY area anyway ;))
http://www.planepics.org/spotterbrowser/sp/2010/lhd0912/292.jpg


Best regards from the heart of NYC (looking down on Times Sq. from the 39th floor as I write - almost as good as flying!!)


Tis

[Mateo]

Downtown is the only one open on weekends, and, yes, you're going to get about 8 helos (B407s, AS350s, and a couple of B206s) departing and returning on 15 minute intervals. You might get some transients (NYPD) over the river, but that's hit and miss. You could also go to the East River around 23rd St and try to catch some seaplanes returning from the Hamptons in the late afternoon.

[Gerard]

Downtown is the only one open on weekends, and, yes, you're going to get about 8 helos (B407s, AS350s, and a couple of B206s) departing and returning on 15 minute intervals. You might get some transients (NYPD) over the river, but that's hit and miss. You could also go to the East River around 23rd St and try to catch some seaplanes returning from the Hamptons in the late afternoon.

West 30st is open on the weekends also but no sightseeing ops there anymore. For today it would be your better bet catching privates and charters. Sun will be to your back for awhile and the best bet for shots is the area to the south of the heliport where there is a walking area along the water (and benches). Hard to shoot on the pad as they have screens over the fences. This is to keep propwash off the walkers and bike riders on the path and probably for privacy.
For Monday I'd venture down to East 34st. Pretty busy with all types of operations, great views through the fences where you could be literally 20 feet away from a copter on the pad. And also to the south between the heliport and the Water Club is a walking path with benches that give you great views of the river along with incoming/outbound traffic to 34st.
Good luck, have fun and would love to see your pics.

[Tis]

Hey guys,

sorry for my late reply, but better late than never I guess :-)
Thanks Mateo and Gerard for your great tips! Unfortunately, weather had other plans for me. As soon as we had finished our little bit of sightseeing on Monday (catching a Water Taxi out to that statue you know :)) and I was already sitting in the M42 bus to take me accross the city to the East 34th Heliport, it started pouring down. And of course it didn't stop until 6PM, when it was time to bid NY farewell and head out to JFK for the flight home.
Soooo, I guess that's reason enough to return for NYC for a third time, and with enough time to visit all its aviation highlights (3 airports, 3 heliports, a seaplane base, an aircraft carrier, and what else there is - you guys sure are lucky!). Third time's the charm anyway...*gg*

Well, since you'd asked for shots, here are two from my short stint at the Downtown Heliport. Nothing really fancy, and I'm no chopper photographer really, but yeah. Once again thanks for your quick help. Great, and definitely appreciated!

http://planepics.org/temp/2011/aug/ny2.jpg


http://planepics.org/temp/2011/aug/ny1.jpg