Gravelly Point Park
Arlington, Virginia
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A few hundred feet north of Washington National Airport there’s a small grassy park where locals gather to behold the closeup spectacle of commercial aircraft, which come in directly overhead throughout the day.
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Aircraft approach Washington over the Potomac River in order to minimize noise disruptions in the city.
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In their final descent they loop over Gravelly Point Park, quickly snap their landing gear into place, and make their screeching landings on a runway stained black by decades of burnt rubber.
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Watching huge jets passing by so close overhead is a sensory overload that’s exhilarating (and potentially brings into doubt the basic physics of heavier-than-air flight).
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Planes are very heavy, large, and fast moving—points that are difficult to appreciate until one roars by a hundred feet above you.
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Some days the landing procedure is reversed.
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When the wind is prevailing northerly, air traffic controllers seize on the opportunity to give departing planes a Mother Nature-assisted takeoff over Gravelly Point. .
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Parking is limited. Best bet is to bike there along the Mount Vernon Trail, which connects via Washington and Virginia.
Address: Gravelly Point, Arlington, Virginia, United States