You know, some parts of Troy actually look good … from 2000 feet up. That was one of my first impressions on Saturday when my companion and I went on the Rensselaer Aeronautical Federation’s semi-annual fly-by.
Now, I enjoy flying, but I have to admit I was a little nervous about getting in such a small aircraft. I knew our pilot—being my companion’s suitemate—so that quelled some of my fears, but driving by the airport those little planes did look kind of shabby.
At any rate, I definitely enjoyed the flight over campus and downtown Albany. My only complaint was the cloudy sky—it did not bode well for taking pictures. However, I could clearly see campus and what I assume were the Berkshires in the distance. We began takeoff sandwiched nicely between other scheduled fly-bys and commercial airline flights. The area between the airport and Troy looks pretty much the same as it does from the road—forest or open fields, commercial developments, and houses—except that I never really realized how blocky and formulaic housing complexes look. Even from a few thousand feet up, these houses all looked the same (not that there’s anything wrong with that, if you live in a subdivision).
We arrived above campus rather quickly and circled around a few times. Besides a lacrosse game that seemed to be ending and a medical helicopter in the Old School parking lot, the campus seemed to have little activity. From a bird’s eye view the campus looked beautiful and serene—except for the freshmen dorms, they still looked drab. Even without the leaves on the trees, the campus looked good. The green-roofed buildings and the ’86 Field definitely made RPI stand out among the rest of Troy. You may be surprised to hear that even downtown Troy looked better. Some of the more historic buildings, like the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall with its bright red roof, made downtown seem more quaint, as if it were still the turn of the 19th century.
Downtown Albany was fun to look at too. The Egg gives pride to its name and really looks like a giant freaking egg in the middle of the city. We even saw a fountain (the water was off but the pool was still a nice, deep blue) near the museum that I didn’t even know existed. We also realized that there is basically one very tall building in Albany and the rest are either normal height or not that impressively tall. Also, the Pepsi Arena is a very, very ugly building from above.
In all, the flight took a half an hour, maybe an hour, and cost $10 a person. If you have never been on a fly-by, though, I definitely recommend going at least once before you graduate. You will develop a new appreciation and view of the Capital Region and of RPI. Besides, it’s just a lot of fun.
