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| Areal view of old Manhattan skyline. |
In 1956 Thomas Fitzpatrick, a 26-year-old pilot, was in a bar in Manhattan . . .
so you already know this is going to be a good story . . .
and made a bet that he could travel from New Jersey back to the New York in 15 minutes.
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Pilot Thomas Fitzpatrick lands a stolen plane on St. Nicholas Ave to win a bar bet. |
He left the bar and at 3 am returned from New Jersey . . .
in a stolen airplane . . .
that he landed, while drunk, on St. Nicholas Ave in front of the bar.
From a police report of the flight: “He landed on a street with lampposts and cars parked on both sides. It was a wonder.’’
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| Aerial photo of Manhattan in 1944 by Andreas Feininger |
It gets even better.
Two years later, while patronizing a different bar, a fellow patron refused to believe the prior event.
Mr. Fitzpatrick left and at 1 am he returned from New Jersey, in a stolen airplane, that he landed, while drunk on Amsterdam Ave.
Pilot Thomas Fitzpatrick, 2 years after the first drunken flight, stole another plane and landed on Amsterdam Ave to win a bar bet.
(The police drew chalk marks around the plane.)
The first time Fitzpatick took the illegal, alcohol fueled flight, he was fined $100 after the plane owner refused to press charges. The second time he had let his pilot’s license lapse because he “Didn’t want to fly anymore,” and was sentenced to jail for 6 months.
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| Pilot Thomas Fitzpatrick stole both of the planes from New Jersey’s Teterboro School of Aeronautics. |
Both times, the airplanes had to be dismantled and driven back to New Jersey.
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| Moonachie, New Jersey and Upper Manhattan, New York |
Fitzpatrick has a mixed drink named after him for his feat called the Late Night Flight:
1/2 ounce Kahlua, 1 and 1/2 ounces vodka, 1/2 ounce Chambord, 5 blackberries, 1 egg white, and Dash simple syrup
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Close up of Moonachie, New Jersey and Upper Manhattan, New York |
#pilot #fly #bet #NYC
Updated 8/23/2017
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Other stories of Pilots:
Updated 8/23/2017
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| Dogfight |
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