I started taking flying lessons in 1997 at Caldwell Flight Academy, which is located on Essex County Airport (CDW) in Fairfield, New Jersey. The airport has a control tower and two runways, runway 9/27 (direction west-east) and runway 4/22 (direction southwest-northeast). This is what the field looks like right after takeoff:

CDW, runways 4/22 (horizontal) and 9/27.

In September of 1998, I obtained my PP-ASEL (Private Pilot-Airplane Single-Engine Land) certificate.

I love flying along the Hudson River and I often go up with friends and family. However, in order to remain alive, I have to strike a delicate balance between enjoying breathtaking views such as the one below, and monitoring the Hudson River traffic frequency (123.05 MHz).

The Statue, from 500 feet

In August of 1997, I went to Oshkosh '97, an absolutely amazing airshow in Wisconsin. If you are an aviation enthusiast, you have to see this at least once in your lifetime!

This year I also went to the New Jersey Festival of Ballooning at Solberg Airport in Readington Township, NJ. As you can see, it was quite spectacular to see the balloons go up.