What Meigs could have been

Let'sgoflying!

Let'sgoflying!

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Dave Taylor
http://www.thestar.com/travel/north...-canada-resumes-island-airport-service-sunday

"Air Canada resumes flying out of the Toronto island airport on Sunday, although it’s now known as Billy Bishop airport, and the airline’s competition is Porter Airlines, the upstart with a raccoon as a mascot.

A new ferry is now running between the airport and the mainland for the 90-second ride. The terminal has gone up-market, with an executive-style lounge complete with iMac computers and free cappuccino available to all passengers."

It's a damned fine GA airport as well.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou...ay,+Toronto,+Ontario+M5J+1B7,+Canada&t=h&z=14
 
Well, since Meigs was a VFR only airport, and wasn't more than about 4,500 feet long, any sort of reliable scheduled service was never really going to happen.
 
wasn't more than about 4,500 feet long
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Greg, they have made entire land-based airports on what used to be nothing but water.

or do you mean that Meig's ended up the way it should have?
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Greg, they have made entire land-based airports on what used to be nothing but water.

or do you mean that Meig's ended up the way it should have?
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Don't misunderstand. I was and am opposed to the closing of Meigs. I was just saying that at 4500 feet long, there wasn't going to be any reliable commercial service there. And with its close proximity to those big buildings downtown, you were never going to get an approach into there with any sort of minimums.
 
Greg Bockelman said:
Well, since Meigs was a VFR only airport, and wasn't more than about 4,500 feet long, any sort of reliable scheduled service was never really going to happen.
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Meigs had VOR/DME-A and GPS RWY 36 approaches, the runway was 3899X150. Runway 18 had a displaced threshold, 3350' available for landing.
 
roncachamp said:
Meigs had VOR/DME-A and GPS RWY 36 approaches, the runway was 3899X150. Runway 18 had a displaced threshold, 3350' available for landing.
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Hmm. Didn't know that. It didn't when I last landed there but it was a long time ago. :D

And the my quoted length was a WAG.:yesnod:
 
Greg Bockelman said:
Don't misunderstand. I was and am opposed to the closing of Meigs. I was just saying that at 4500 feet long, there wasn't going to be any reliable commercial service there. And with its close proximity to those big buildings downtown, you were never going to get an approach into there with any sort of minimums.
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Chicago Helicopter Airways offered scheduled passenger service to Meigs 1957-1961.
 
Any chance the new mayor will reinstate it?
 
roncachamp said:
Chicago Helicopter Airways offered scheduled passenger service to Meigs 1957-1961.
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Seems to me that another airline also offered scheduled service between SPI and Meigs back in the early 90's.
 
Well I hope the Canadians can see the value in it and hold on to what they have.

Interestingly, when I was searching for BB airport I found a post saying, 'Don't go to the international, what a tedious way to get downtown - fly in to the T.O. island airport.'!
 
roncachamp said:
Chicago Helicopter Airways offered scheduled passenger service to Meigs 1957-1961.
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Speaking of that, I wonder why Chicago does not have a downtown heliport like NYC. . .
 
Wings Field (KLOM) had scheduled airline service and, at the time, it was only about 3200ft. Maybe only 3000ft. Commuter planes to NYC, Newark, and, IIRC, Boston. Those funny prop-tris with the 3rd engine mounted on the tail a la 727 IIRC.
 
flyersfan31 said:
Wings Field (KLOM) had scheduled airline service and, at the time, it was only about 3200ft. Maybe only 3000ft. Commuter planes to NYC, Newark, and, IIRC, Boston. Those funny prop-tris with the 3rd engine mounted on the tail a la 727 IIRC.
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Try 2700' and IIRC the service was to Philly International and DC Regan
 
AdamZ said:
Try 2700' and IIRC the service was to Philly International and DC Regan
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(cockney accent) WHa' evah!
:D

(And it would have been to National -- not Reagan!!!!!:smile:YOINK!!!!)
 
wsuffa said:
Seems to me that another airline also offered scheduled service between SPI and Meigs back in the early 90's.
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They did. It was mainly for commuters between the capital and the state of Illinois building in downtown where the defacto state capital of Illinois is.

And yes the airport had active instrument approaches throughout the 90s and until the day it closed. One of the reasons that Daley and the city were fined was because of some rule about closing an airport with IAPs without a 30 day notice to the FAA.

http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/newsitems/2004/04-1-087x.html
 
Greg Bockelman said:
Well, since Meigs was a VFR only airport
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Nope - At the time it closed, there were two approaches in there - I think one was a VOR and one was a GPS. I kept the last edition of the Jepp chart for one of them.

EDIT: These aren't real plates, but they do match my memory of the approaches: http://www.imagea2.com/xplane/files/KCGXchart.pdf

According to Wikipedia, those approaches didn't exist until the late 1990's, probably after the first closure. Apparently, there was actually airline service in and out of there from the 60's and "Peaking in the late '80's."
 
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How much runway does a SAAB 340, Beech 1900, Dash-8, or Dash-8 Q400 need to operate? :dunno:
 
Flown Porter from MDW to Toronto Island a few times. Very convenient and fast. The Porter terminals are great - free snacks, drinks, etc. The ferry ride takes about 30 seconds. There has been talk about building a pedestrian bridge but so far nothing is happening.
 
Ozark tried CGX-SPI back in the 70's using Twin Otters.


OZ720315CGX-SPI.JPG
 
ScottM said:
Not if you look at 6Y9 and what the Fredericks did.
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Yeah, but what are the odds of Meigs ever reopening, no matter what we think? Even the FoM spokesman admits that it is unlikely, extremely unlikely. I'd love it, don't get me wrong. I just don't see it happening without a LOT of local pressure. How many people in Chicago want it open again?
 
ScottM said:
Not if you look at 6Y9 and what the Fredericks did.
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What actions were taken with the "closing" of 6Y9? Any? Or was it just abandoned for a time? Meigs has had the runway, taxiways, ramp and field lighting removed.
 
RMCN172RG said:
They stopped mowing the grass?:confused:
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That'd be my guess. I'd expect reopening it would require mowing, perhaps some brush removal, rolling the runway, picking stones, and putting out some markers.
 
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