Dallas to Chicago. Tips?

I spent 1 day in Chicago about 15 years ago, and I loved it. Liked Michigan Ave., liked the art museum, liked the Sears Tower. Bryan also wants to eat at a pizza place he had back when he was a kid. I think it will be a fun place to spend a couple nights.

That being said, I vote a big N-O to Gary. I drove through Gary to get to Chicago last time, and that will be the only time I will be anywhere near there. It was nasty.
 
Kritchlow said:
Personally I think PWK is a trap if you are VFR..or IFR for that matter. They tend to lead you down the prim rose path to busting the bravo.... Arrival and departure. Just because you're in contact with tower be very aware you may be close to the B, especially if maneuvering to 34 from 16. On departure, if departing south, just ask for a left turn out the alternative can get nasty, depending upon your speed.
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I'm not sure that you can "bust" bravo while IFR (unless you're not following your clearance, but that's a whole different issue)
 
All in, MDW will be around 60-70USD for an overnight in a Cirrus.
 
I go to MDW if I'm going to Chicago proper. It's not that expensive. You're still going to spend 40 minutes in a car service getting downtown but that's just the way it is.
 
I don't know where to land in Chi-town but if it was just a get-a-way, I sure would go about 300deg ~3 hours until you saw something spectacular, then land and have fun. No way I'm going to Chi-town for a 'getaway'.

But - that's just one opinion and we know what they are good for.
 
I don't even sh*t in Chicago.
 
Mrs. SixPapaCharlie said:
I spent 1 day in Chicago about 15 years ago, and I loved it. Liked Michigan Ave., liked the art museum, liked the Sears Tower. Bryan also wants to eat at a pizza place he had back when he was a kid. I think it will be a fun place to spend a couple nights.

That being said, I vote a big N-O to Gary. I drove through Gary to get to Chicago last time, and that will be the only time I will be anywhere near there. It was nasty.
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You wouldn't be driving through Gary....
 
Wow, I ain't a fan of Chicago, would never live there, but work there and it is a fine place to visit. Just don't make the mistake of moving into city limits and it is good fun. I have been to better and worse places.

You would be a cool couple to meet up for drinks, but unless you are here now, I am actually heading out towards Kent land tomorrow. Or if you are coming next weekend, there is a craft beer tasting in West Loop.

Otherwise, take a gander at trip advisor, urban spoon, yelp, red eye, metromix, craiglsit, whatever - a million things to do if the weather cooperates (Sunday is showing TS). Eataly, tourist trap, still damn good. Mercat a la planxa pricey and damn good tapas.Cafe Iberico, regular priced, good tapas. Catch a show at Steppenwolf. Don't do cirque shanghai. Compare prices on boat tours (same tours, but different companies have way different prices).

Anyhow, eat, drink, be merry and hit any of us up if you get stuck for ideas.
 
dans2992 said:
I'm not sure that you can "bust" bravo while IFR (unless you're not following your clearance, but that's a whole different issue)
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When landing north they have you cancel prior to the circle.
On departure you need to stay east of a radial as per the departure when departing south.

So, it can be a gotcha if not familiar.
 
Mrs. SixPapaCharlie said:
I spent 1 day in Chicago about 15 years ago, and I loved it. Liked Michigan Ave., liked the art museum, liked the Sears Tower. Bryan also wants to eat at a pizza place he had back when he was a kid. I think it will be a fun place to spend a couple nights.
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Yeah, Chicago is one of the great cities.

Maybe try a riverboat architectural tour. Good way to kill an afternoon.

This is the company we use when guests come to town: https://www.wendellaboats.com/Boat-Tours
 
Make sure you stop by Lambert's at Sikeston on a way up...it's a great place to eat and about half way!

SixPapaCharlie said:
Grandparents offered to watch the kids for 2 nights so we're taking advantage and doing a long haul Next weekend.
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You should save up those markers and call them in on Gaston's weekend!!!
 
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masloki said:
Wow, I ain't a fan of Chicago, would never live there, but work there and it is a fine place to visit. Just don't make the mistake of moving into city limits and it is good fun. I have been to better and worse places.

You would be a cool couple to meet up for drinks, but unless you are here now, I am actually heading out towards Kent land tomorrow. Or if you are coming next weekend, there is a craft beer tasting in West Loop.

Otherwise, take a gander at trip advisor, urban spoon, yelp, red eye, metromix, craiglsit, whatever - a million things to do if the weather cooperates (Sunday is showing TS). Eataly, tourist trap, still damn good. Mercat a la planxa pricey and damn good tapas.Cafe Iberico, regular priced, good tapas. Catch a show at Steppenwolf. Don't do cirque shanghai. Compare prices on boat tours (same tours, but different companies have way different prices).

Anyhow, eat, drink, be merry and hit any of us up if you get stuck for ideas.
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Next weekend.
Hoping to get in around dinner time Friday
 
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:goofy:


.
 
Kritchlow said:
When landing north they have you cancel prior to the circle.
On departure you need to stay east of a radial as per the departure when departing south.

So, it can be a gotcha if not familiar.
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??? "They have you cancel..." ???

Must not be an IFR guy, are you?
 
ahkahn said:
??? "They have you cancel..." ???

Must not be an IFR guy, are you?
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Yes, I am. Major airline actually...

Landing 34 often they have you do the ILS 16 to cancel for a "visual approach circle". This is a technicality of some sort for seperation under the B. It's complete SOP at PWK.
 
Once I told them we were unable to cancel... They gave me a hold with an EFC of 1+ hours while they cleared the ORD departure gate..

I cancelled :D

They are looking for the cancellation while on final, before breaking off for the circle.
 
toddsanderson said:
Chicago has good food, but other than that it is just noise and corruption.
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Amen to that. I lived there for about half a year and have no desire nor intention to ever return if I can possibly avoid it.

I tried to convey this somehow to my mom, who decided they had to go there on their latest pastime of attending a baseball game at every major league park in the country. I suppose if you have that goal you have to do Chicago at some point...

They came home with what they thought were "horror stories" about traffic and a whole bunch of other things a month or so ago. Mom finally "got it" when I said "oh that's a good day there, try it on ice in January".

At least you're going in the "good weather" month. A couple more months and it'll be "hot weather" and they'll all be enjoying the usual summer murder sprees.

They did say one of the games was good. It only took them two hours to get to Wrigley. I thought that was pretty good but they were appalled. Haha.
 
Kritchlow said:
Once I told them we were unable to cancel... They gave me a hold with an EFC of 1+ hours while they cleared the ORD departure gate..

I cancelled :D

They are looking for the cancellation while on final, before breaking off for the circle.
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Ahh... ok. So they don't force you to cancel, they "force" you to cancel. Makes sense.

If I'm flying inbound from the East/Northeast (Michigan) to KLOT/1C5, as I approach, South Bend Approach always has a reroute for me: OXI-EON-JOT. That's a "force" cancellation also.... Ah, no thanks, I'll go VFR direct the rest of the way and save the extra 25 minutes.

EDIT: Major airline @ PWK??
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
Next weekend.
Hoping to get in around dinner time Friday
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KPWK only works if you ask the FBO to take you over the Metra station in Northbrook. Do not attempt to drive into Chicago from the North on a Friday evening.

My wife keeps trying it every few months and always ends up ****ed. It starts with her saying, "Wouldn't it be great if I came down to your office and we go out downtown for the evening?" "No dear, you hate driving in traffic." "Oh, it will be fine, see you in an hour." Slow forward 2.5 hours. "#@$% $%R#W^ ^%&^ traffic $#^@&"

http://neighborsofwestloop.com/west-loop-craft-beer-festival/2015-breweries/
Nice lineup!

Back to your original question of where to land. KMDW is probably best. After the plane is buttoned up, open up your Google/HERE/Apple maps app and check traffic. Mostly green, use Lyft/Uber. Mostly red, take CTA. For CTA, you will need to buy a Ventra card in the station and load it with some funds. You can use one card with multiple people. Not sure if CTA does a weekend thing but may be worth poking around on the Ventra machine to see what is available. Getting around within the city, Lyft/Uber is about the best bang for the buck, time for money.

And if you get exceptionally lucky Blackhawks could win the championship that Saturday. For which there will be some partying in the streets.
 
Kritchlow said:
Yes, I am. Major airline actually...

Landing 34 often they have you do the ILS 16 to cancel for a "visual approach circle". This is a technicality of some sort for seperation under the B. It's complete SOP at PWK.
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That was a surprise for us a few months ago. The weather wasn't great. Snow had just moved through and was ending. In fact we were questioning whether we would get in at all and the passenger had requested KORD as an alternate. Ugh.

The one thing I will say about KPWK is that they definitely kept the runway in good condition and had timely updates on their website.
 
If arriving from the south or east, I'm not sure that I see any advantage to using airports to the north and west of the city. I understand that folks have their favorites, but for cost, proximity, and ease of use, I don't think it gets any better than GYY.

I also see no advantage to MDW, unless you like more traffic and higher fees, but this would probably be my second choice.

If you're concerned about "the neighborhood," pretty much all of Chicago should be just as if not more concerning than Gary. Based on the statistics, I wouldn't consider Chicago to be a "safe" city, but I do like it and I think it's a great destination for a long weekend getaway. I've walked the downtown streets even at night and never had a problem or felt unsafe, which is more than I can say about some other cities after the sun does down (center city Philadelphia, I'm looking at you!)

I don't like Chicago's politics at all, and it's been a Midwestern mob town for quite a while, but there any many nice people who live and work there. I struggle with the concept of "boycott," because the politics are unlikely to change as a result, so the only impact is on the good people trying to make a living.


JKG
 
Kritchlow said:
Yes, I am. Major airline actually...

Landing 34 often they have you do the ILS 16 to cancel for a "visual approach circle". This is a technicality of some sort for seperation under the B. It's complete SOP at PWK.
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So I have to apologize to you. I went to the Chicago Controllers' Symposium today and low and behold one of the controllers mentioned forcing IFR cancellations into PWK. I immediately raised my hand and said, "I just got into an argument with another guy about this. You can't do that!" and his response was, "you're correct, technically we can't, but at PWK we have to." He went on to explain why. So, my apologies to you on your "forced cancellation" comment.

He also mentioned that they recommend SVFR clearances from DPA to PWK, FWIW.
 
ahkahn said:
So I have to apologize to you. I went to the Chicago Controllers' Symposium today and low and behold one of the controllers mentioned forcing IFR cancellations into PWK. I immediately raised my hand and said, "I just got into an argument with another guy about this. You can't do that!" and his response was, "you're correct, technically we can't, but at PWK we have to." He went on to explain why. So, my apologies to you on your "forced cancellation" comment.
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So... Why?
 
PPC1052 said:
Midway isn't crazy-expensive landing fees. I think it's something like $10.00. It's just the fuel prices. I presume any ramp fee the FBO would tack on would be waived with your significant purchase of fuel for the return flight.
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Landing fee may only be $10... But then you'll have things like "ramp fee" and "facility fee" and "security fee" tacked on. Fuel waives some of them, but it's so damn expensive ($8.44/gal at Atlantic currently) that you're going to spend as much or more extra getting the fee "waived". They're gonna get you one way or the other.

However... It's probably still the best option, especially coming from the south. But, this is one reason why I don't go to Chicago if I can help it.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Landing fee may only be $10... But then you'll have things like "ramp fee" and "facility fee" and "security fee" tacked on. Fuel waives some of them, but it's so damn expensive ($8.44/gal at Atlantic currently) that you're going to spend as much or more extra getting the fee "waived". They're gonna get you one way or the other.
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True, that.

flyingcheesehead said:
However... It's probably still the best option, especially coming from the south.
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That is my thinking, too.

I am trying to plan a flight to Chicago for next week, and unfortunately, where I want to go is about 45 minutes from the smaller airports, and 30 from MDW. I am debating whether I should just drive it. This is why so often I end up not using my plane for travel to Chicago from Indy (EYE).
 
ahkahn said:
MarkZ - missed you at the Symposium, but glad everything worked out for your family!

Why is the PWK approach a forced/strongly suggested IFR cancellation?
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Didn't they tell you at the symposium?
 
I fly out of PWK. Every time they land on 34 they want us to cancel and circle. There are no instrument approaches on any other runway other than 16 at PWK. The 3 approaches are an ILS, VOR and GPS.
 
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Hawthorne at PWK is a really nice FBO and they are the newest one there.
 
asgcpa said:
I fly out of PWK. Every time they land on 34 they force us to cancel and circle.
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I don't remember the verbiage they used with us. The airport had just gone VFR after a period of IFR in snow. When we had the airport in sight, they said something like, " We are VFR now, cleared for the VFR circle to 34". :dunno:

I remember thinking that was a little strange but OK...
 
Catalo said:
I'd take you up on that if I wasn't 19. And it wouldn't be weird. You seem like a fun guy
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Never worry about weird, weird usually provides the most memorable experiences. As for drinking age, by 19 you should know a couple ways around that by now, if not Brÿan can teach you.;)
 
Henning said:
Never worry about weird, weird usually provides the most memorable experiences. As for drinking age, by 19 you should know a couple ways around that by now, if not Brÿan can teach you.;)
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True but thats up to him. As for ways around that of course

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk
 
You don't have to be 21 to buy yeast, Barley, Oats, Malt, Grains, or hops.

What you do with those things after you buy them is your business. :)
 
Everskyward said:
I don't remember the verbiage they used with us. The airport had just gone VFR after a period of IFR in snow. When we had the airport in sight, they said something like, " We are VFR now, cleared for the VFR circle to 34". :dunno:

I remember thinking that was a little strange but OK...
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I flew in there for several years and the towers verbiage was always something like "report the IFR cancellation and report the circle".
 
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