Chicago area experts, trying to plan a trip

cowman

cowman

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Cowman
Hey I'm looking into taking a trip to the Chicago Auto Show this year and if possible fly in.

I don't know Chicago terribly well, the website says it's at McCormick Place on Lake Shore Dr. Are there any good GA friendly airports that would have public transport right to there?

I'd rather avoid big places like Midway especially with high fees/gas prices. If it's the same difference I'd just go ahead and land somewhere I can park for free and get a rental car. Also being a low time VFR pilot in an Archer I'm not terribly excited about jumping into the same pond as the big fish....

Also being that this is in winter, the ability to plug in my pre-heater or be parked in a heated hangar should we get stuck overnight would be a plus.

The only airport I've been to in the area is KIGQ in Lansing, nice place with friendly people and free parking with fuel but I don't know that it's the best location.
 
cowman said:
Hey I'm looking into taking a trip to the Chicago Auto Show this year and if possible fly in.

I don't know Chicago terribly well, the website says it's at McCormick Place on Lake Shore Dr. Are there any good GA friendly airports that would have public transport right to there?

I'd rather avoid big places like Midway especially with high fees/gas prices. If it's the same difference I'd just go ahead and land somewhere I can park for free and get a rental car. Also being a low time VFR pilot in an Archer I'm not terribly excited about jumping into the same pond as the big fish....

Also being that this is in winter, the ability to plug in my pre-heater or be parked in a heated hangar should we get stuck overnight would be a plus.

The only airport I've been to in the area is KIGQ in Lansing, nice place with friendly people and free parking with fuel but I don't know that it's the best location.
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Meigs....




Oh.... Never mind....:nonod::nonod::nonod:....:no:....:(.
 
DPA is a decent place. KARR or 1C5 would definitely have free parking but are further out. Executive is closer to the city but may have some fees.
 
Unfortunately there aren't too many airports that are close to downtown.

KLOT is about 40 minutes or so and has a rental car counter right in the terminal. It is an easy in and out airport.

KARR, KDPE, KPWK are also fine choices, again a little ways out. All have good facilities.

06C is ok, but is on the northwest side of the city and getting to McCormick from there can be a challenge.


Believe it or not, Midway is very GA friendly. I wouldn't hesitate to go into there, but I do understand.
 
If Midway was cheaper I might be more tempted. But the fuel cost difference alone will pay for a day in a rental car... then figure the fees and the rental car is cheaper and we have a car to run around in if we want to go elsewhere.
 
KLOT is very easy in and out and rental cars easily available.
 
I would chose DuPage (DPA) or Executice (PWK) both have good FBOs and rental cars available. Personally I like Executive better. By the way the new name "Executive" is silly. I prefer the old Palwaukee.
 
Lewis/Romeoville (KLOT) and Bolingbrook Clow (1C5) (my home drome) are very GA friendly and non-towered airports. Executive (KPWK), Dupage/West Chicago (KDPA) and Aurora (KARR) are larger delta airports, and a little further out. Gary (GYY) or Lansing (IGQ) are probably the closest in proximity, but that's not saying much since Meigs was bulldozed.

I will be flying some friends into 1C5 for the auto show from Cincinnati.
 
KGYY Gary.

I'm on my phone and easily find my other posts on it, but check here searching for KGYY and maybe the red board for the details. Great place to land to get into downtown Chi.

If you can't find lemme know and I'll link when I get to a computer.
 
mikegreen said:
KGYY Gary.

I'm on my phone and easily find my other posts on it, but check here searching for KGYY and maybe the red board for the details. Great place to land to get into downtown Chi.

If you can't find lemme know and I'll link when I get to a computer.
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I found it, looks like about $7 to get there and ~45min. Not bad.


Gary isn't too far out of the way, only issue I noted was a direct trip would take me with about 2mi of ORD. This looked like a decent route to go but if anyone sees a problem with it that I'm unaware of let me know. Seems like it would be a great route to see the city from. (origin is KEAU)
 

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I would do MDW, and take a FBO ride over the the train..
 
cowman said:
I found it, looks like about $7 to get there and ~45min. Not bad.


Gary isn't too far out of the way, only issue I noted was a direct trip would take me with about 2mi of ORD. This looked like a decent route to go but if anyone sees a problem with it that I'm unaware of let me know. Seems like it would be a great route to see the city from. (origin is KEAU)
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I like GYY. Going the lakefront under the Bravo your biggest concern is if the RNAV 22L approach into MDW is active, then you just have wake turbulence concerns and need to drop down a bit lower, say 2000 MSL.

https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/notices/2014-12-11/EC14000.cfm
 
Coming from the WI side I would land somewhere on the North/NW side. Easier to get out if the weather is marginal on departure too.

I'd try to get by without a rental car, parking would cost a bit near the auto show. Just cab to a nearby train stop if you can't bum a ride from where you land. Fuel up at BUU on the way in or out.
 
cowman said:
I found it, looks like about $7 to get there and ~45min. Not bad.


Gary isn't too far out of the way, only issue I noted was a direct trip would take me with about 2mi of ORD. This looked like a decent route to go but if anyone sees a problem with it that I'm unaware of let me know. Seems like it would be a great route to see the city from. (origin is KEAU)
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Nothing wrong with that route. Stay slightly east over the lake and you won't have to worry about the 1,900.

However, I do that flight all the time for fun, and generally stay around 1,800. That is a great altitude to see the city. Just watch for traffic if it is a nice day.
 
sourdough44 said:
Coming from the WI side I would land somewhere on the North/NW side. Easier to get out if the weather is marginal on departure too.

I'd try to get by without a rental car, parking would cost a bit near the auto show. Just cab to a nearby train stop if you can't bum a ride from where you land. Fuel up at BUU on the way in or out.
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Unfortunately that is much more difficult than it should be. There is no direct train service from the suburbs to MCCormick. And while it can be done on public transportation, it would require mutiple trains, buses, etc.

Some of the worse traffic in the city can be from the NW. So a cab or a rental car could result in a lot of stop and go.

South and west isn't too bad by car, but very difficult by public transportation.

The Metra electric line that goes to Mc Cormick,unfortunately does not go anywhere near any airports.

Midway is the easiest from a public transportation as there is a train going right to it. However you still have to change to busses to get to Mc Cormick
 
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With the exception of midway or Gary/Chicago, executive would be the closest. Probably a 30 min drive depending on traffic. Or you can take the train down. Try and catch a ride to an L station.
 
Disclaimer that I"m not a local, but I travel to Chicago fairly often for business. Options that I see easily

Best - probably PWK, then take the #272 bus to Jefferson Park, blue line downtown.
Or taxi (<15 miles) to a blue line station near ORD

Gary, commuter trains to downtown.

MDW or ORD, then transit line to downtown. I think you've identified this and know why you don't want to do it, but are the fees really that large? Get something in writing quoting what the fees would be for your circumstances and then decide if the hassle is worth it. I've heard of people having fee upon fee piled onto them and having thousand dollar bills to pay before they could get their airplane back, others have no issues at all.

BTW, if you're not aware, you can use Google Maps to plan public transit routes. When you have a route, look at the top, there's a car, bus and walking icons that let you adjust how you're traveling.
 
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This is part II but about 1:10 in it shows his charges for MDW. Looks like this was at least a year ago so prices probably have changed a bit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leyw6voClfg

Watching both parts might give you an idea of what to expect flying in to MDW.
 
miker said:
This is part II but about 1:10 in it shows his charges for MDW. Looks like this was at least a year ago so prices probably have changed a bit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leyw6voClfg

Watching both parts might give you an idea of what to expect flying in to MDW.
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Yeah I've seen that before, it made me less wary of the actual flying but the fees... good god.

$67.50 in non-fuel fees alone... then you're paying a $2-3/gallon premium on fuel on top of that is going to add $40-60 to my expected fuel bill. If I can get a $7 train ticket from Gary it's worth it to me to add a 45min train ride to save over $100.

I would imagine with those fees the only people who would fly into midway are the too rich to care, those who want to just once for the novelty, and the ultra-busy for whom the extra time is worth their money.

I'm none of those... except possibly the novelty one.
 
Did you get your plane home yet? Weather hasn't been very helpful in wisc.
 
Yeah I got it home, turns out the problem was a bad left mag followed by too cold to start.
 
Catalo said:
With the exception of midway or Gary/Chicago, executive would be the closest. Probably a 30 min drive depending on traffic. Or you can take the train down. Try and catch a ride to an L station.
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You're proposing he can get from beyond Wolf Rd to 31st and LSD in 30 min? During the day?:rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
warthog1984 said:
You're proposing he can get from beyond Wolf Rd to 31st and LSD in 30 min? During the day?:rofl::rofl::rofl:
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Well exec is at/on wolf road not beyond. And there is an entrance to 294s about 2 miles away. So if he takes 294 to 90E yes 30-40 minutes isn't unreasonable. Again it all depends on traffic.
 
I pondered this one a bit. McCormick really is not conveniently located to any airport public transit except perhaps MDW. Another option to consider is fly into KUGN then take Metra UP-N to downtown. At that point grab a cab, lyft or uber to handle the last mile. Whenever I have the choice between CTA trains/buses and Metra, I take the Metra. Depending on your schedule, there is a Metra NCS by KPWK, but the schedule is spartan compared to the other lines.
 
I dont know much about Chicago except for MDW and PWK and it sounds like PWK is too far for a McCormick run.

But If you are thinking of MDW I would not be afraid of flying VFR into it. I landed there a few times in the past 2 years coming from Michigan and its pretty easy. They had me come up directly from the south (45deg to all other traffic) report 5 mile then field in sight, fly directly over middle of field and tight turn for landing. The other thing I found helpful was the minute I started talking on ground freq they recognized I was not a "Professional" pilot and gave me progressive taxi. If you dont get it and you are unfamiliar then just ask, controllers are pretty accommodating there (Ipad/GPS is a huge help here).

Regarding Fees, I parked at Atlantic and it was $50 (I think) but they waived it with min fuel purchase, so I put 20 gallons in and called it even. All my landings were day trips so I am not sure about overnight costs. And the typical taxi ride was $50-$60 depending where downtown I was going.

Good luck and report back regardless of what you decide.
 
Do GYY. Gary Jet Center is the best for service. Call Lynn 219-944-1210. I fly out of Exec. PITA to drive to Auto Show from there. Could be 45 mins, could be 3 hours depending on traffic/weather. Fuel and fees are expensive. PM me if you want in sight.
 
Can I get an update on how your flight went? I have a meeting this Friday in Chicago and am thinking of flying up, probably into Midway.
 
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