Meigs Field?

[msoeagle]

Ok, so I play Flight Simulator alot and Meigs was the default airport to fly out of so I fly out of there a lot. I am interested in flying to chicago and wanted a small airport to fly into so I went to expedia and searched flights from Mke to meigs only to find out that there werent flights. So I googled searched it and found out that meigs was turned into a park? Is this right? Could someone tell me about this please thanks.

[Do I Know You]

Meigs was destroyed in '03.

[[jonrev]]

Meigs hasnt operated in years. Thank you very much Mr. Daley you little bastard.

[FRD714]

Old news.....I remember watching it on the news.

[Chitown]

Who cares?

Only planes that were able to fly into and out of this airport were small private planes.

If you have a private plane, fly your ass into OHare, Midway, or one of the many small regional airports in the Chicago area. I won't shed a tear that you cannot fly right into the downtown area.

[ihauntu2]

^ Not quite true Batman. Meigs was the hub for state aircraft traffic including turboprops, and jets. It was also a hub for several corporations and their private jets that were / are based in downtown Chicago.

Ever since Supreme Leader Daley pulled his little black ops stunt, The state has had to pay the extra cost of commuting workers in from Midway, including Govenor motorcades. How many workers is this that we the taxpayers get to pick up added expense on? Aprrox. 100 workers a day.

Now I know that an EL ticket is inexpensive, but multiply that cost x 100 x 260 (number of state working days) x 3 yrs. This does not even factor in those executives who take a taxi from midway to the Thompson Center. Nor does it factor the added load at Midway on their Approach / Depart controllers. Lets not even mention the fact that you now have a situation at Midway with so many varied sizes of aircraft that is pure hell on ground controllers, and increases the already statistically higher risk of tarmac collisions.

Msoeagle - In the middle of the night bulldozers tore giant X's into the runway with aircraft on the ground at Meigs and enroute to Meigs with no notice to the FAA. There wasn't even an Airmans notice to warn incoming Pilots that this had occured. The only thing that saved incoming planes was the fact that a very alert pilot realized something was different, did a close fly over, diverted, and alerted all other incoming traffic. Aircraft trapped on the ground had to do a soft runway (grass / shoulder) take-off which is very risky.

On a political note - this occured when it appeared that the 10th Casino liscense was going to be returned to the state system and re-auctioned. It is no secret that Emperor Daley wants a land based casino in the area that Meigs occupied. After the destruction of this vital asset there was a bill in the GA that would allow for land based casinos. You do the math.

And for those who believed in the Security BS - O'Hare and Midway traffic are literally only a minute or two deviation of Meigs. Any aircraft going into either one of those could just as easily strike downtown as a Meigs bound craft.

[msoeagle]

^ Wow, thanks. So was the reason the made the X's into the runway so that pilots wouldnt land there? And did any airlines fly into there or was it just private planes?

[[jonrev]]

^yeah. Daley had them bulldoze the runway overnight, leaving a bunch of planes stranded.

[newjedi]

^ Wow, thanks. So was the reason the made the X's into the runway so that pilots wouldnt land there? And did any airlines fly into there or was it just private planes?

No airlines flew into Meigs that I can remember. It was only small private planes and helicopters.

If you have a private plane, fly your ass into OHare, Midway, or one of the many small regional airports in the Chicago area. I won't shed a tear that you cannot fly right into the downtown area.

You cannot fly a small private plane into O'hare. And Midway is getting more difficult to fly into as well.


msoeagle consider flying into Palwaukee or Waukegan. I know it ain't the same as Meigs but at least you won't have to deal with Daley and his high taxes and fees.

[msoeagle]

^ Ok thanks. I might just take Amtrak down or drive down because I live in milwaukee.

[Galvan]

^ Why needlessly spend money to take a train to Chicago when your only 90 minutes away by car.

Airlines flew into Megis field in the late 80s and early 90s, In fact American Eagle and United Express flew Saab 340s into Megis from Rockford and Southern Illinois.

Megis Field after 9/11 became a saftey threat to Downtown Chicago, As for Ohare not being an airport for small private planes... wow that is so totally not the case.

In fact of the thousands of delays at ORD in 2004, roughly 20% of those where caused by small/private plane traffic.

and as for MDW becoming too over crowded.... 45% of the traffic at MDW is small private/plane traffic.

(Data is from a number of sources and im too lazy to cite them)

[msoeagle]

^ The reason is because my mom WONT drive to chicago.

[Aero737]

Small private planes can land at O'Hare, my grandma's house is right under the approach for 4r and I would sit out in her backyard and watch the planes land. Every now and again there would be a little 172 flying at full throttle trying to keep up with the big jets (well, 757's are about as big as they get on 4R).

I do think that Megis is still in flight simulator (at least Microsoft 2004 aka FS9) but before it's destruction it wasn't a very heavy commercial airport.

^And mike, taking the train for me is 10.00 round trip. There is a train station 10 miles away. Hop on, and take it to Chicago and I don't have to worry about gas or parking (parking is like 20.00 alone).

[Galvan]

I thought Amtrak's fares was just like the Airlines fares, outragous....

My mistake.

[msoeagle]

Small private planes can land at O'Hare, my grandma's house is right under the approach for 4r and I would sit out in her backyard and watch the planes land. Every now and again there would be a little 172 flying at full throttle trying to keep up with the big jets (well, 757's are about as big as they get on 4R).

I do think that Megis is still in flight simulator (at least Microsoft 2004 aka FS9) but before it's destruction it wasn't a very heavy commercial airport.

^And mike, taking the train for me is 10.00 round trip. There is a train station 10 miles away. Hop on, and take it to Chicago and I don't have to worry about gas or parking (parking is like 20.00 alone).

Union Station is the one amtrak goes into right?

[Aero737]

Yes

[twixmix0303]

No offense msoeagle but try researching some of this yourself. The folks at Amtrak/Metra/CTA are a lot more knowledgable than us anyways.

[msoeagle]

^ Umm ok? Am I really being that lazy by asking what station Amtrak goes into?

[twixmix0303]

Nah, I'm just saying that we don't really have time tables or pricing info so we really can't help that much.

[msoeagle]

Was the control tower, hangers, and passenger temrinals bulldozed also?

[twixmix0303]

Not overnight.

[msoeagle]

^ Do they still exist?

[[jonrev]]

I think Meigs is totally gone.

[Timmy179]

Chicago's famous architect and planner Daniel H. Burnham imagined Northerly Island as one of the northernmost points in a series of manmade islands stretching between Grant and Jackson Parks. His vision for this park included lagoons, harbors, beaches, recreation areas, a scenic drive and grand stretches of green space that would provide breathtaking views of the lake and City skyline.

Northerly Island and Burnham Park were selected as the site of Chicago's second World's Fair entitled A Century of Progress, 1933-34, and by the early 1930s, Northerly Island had been increased to its present size. In 1938, the Chicago Park District removed the bridge leading to Northerly Island and built a causeway connecting the island to Burnham Park. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Northerly Island featured paths and walkways, scattered trees and grass, a parking lot and the 12th Street Beach.

In 1947, a small airport known as Meigs Field opened under the Exposition Authority Act. Operations at Meigs expanded with the building of an air control tower in 1952. The 50-year lease granted by the park district for Meigs Field expired on September 30, 1996. The City, Park District, and numerous civic organizations agreed that the airport should revert to parkland. Today, Daniel Burnham’s vision is now a reality. With wild prairie grasses taking root, beautiful strolling paths, casual play areas, and a spectacular view of the City skyline, we invite you to come out and enjoy the emerging world of Northerly Island.

[twixmix0303]

/\ You could land your plane on that.