Sightseeing flights Louisville KY

[bkspero]

I'll be flying into KLOU next week to visit family and will be giving them their first GA flights sightseeing around Louisville. Now I have to figure out a good route.

Any recommendations of things that look good from the air (they know the area, but have no way to judge what looks good from the air and what doesn't)? It looks like at least one flight will happen at twilight or later, so both day and night recommendations would be helpful.

Also any guidance on ATC's preferences? Will they allow sightseeing from within the Charlie, or will they want me to stay below the shelf (which seems to be only about 1000 to 1500 ft AGL)? Which sectors are busier and which are slower (and how do they fit with things to see)?

I guess the UPS traffic to/from SDF varies with time of day, so as background, Monday's flight will start between 6 and 8 PM local. The others are more flexible and during the following days.

Thanks for the help, Barry

 

[timwinters]

Lee Bottom

http://www.leebottom.com

 

[bkspero]

Just returned from the trip and here's what happened. On the initial call to Bowman (KLOU) ground we asked for a City Tour. They coordinated with Standiford (KSDF) tower and got a clearance for us and a squawk code. On all 3 of the flights we did the clearance was the same. Departing RWY 24, turn to a heading of 220, maintain VFR at or below 2500 ft, on instructions change to KSDF tower (124.2).

On radar identification KSDF tower had me cross KSDF at midfield at or below 2500 ft. This routing passes the Kentucky Kingdom amusement park, U. of Louisville football stadium, and Churchill Downs race track on the right. Then turn north towards the west side of downtown and the Ohio River. At the river turn right (east) past the downtown area. Louisville is a pretty small city, and we could see just about everything on that pass. We did not request to circle downtown (which is in the departure path from the 2 main KSDF runways).

We then flew east down the River past Jefferson Boatyard and the northeast suburbs, then back to Bowman.

The only complication was on the 3rd flight when there was a string of 7 UPS departures shortly after I had crossed midfield. Tower had me circle until they were off.