OurAirports: Comments on airports in Illinois, United States

[KDEC] "Great ATC Tower controller" by Rosenkavalier

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 21:36:23 -0500

Comment by @Rosenkavalier on Decatur Airport, United States:

I was coming in at night and the airport is very hard to find among all the other light clutter. A very patient tower controller turned ry30 up full and turned all the other runway lights off to make it easier to find.

[KMDW] "Ground transportation" by david

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 09:23:34 -0500

Comment by @david on Chicago Midway International Airport, United States:

There's a station for the "L" train Orange Line in the terminal: ~25 minutes to downtown and the Loop.

[KMDW] "Porter" by david

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 09:20:46 -0500

Comment by @david on Chicago Midway International Airport, United States:

This is where Porter Airlines flies from downtown Toronto.

[LL22] "Great AirPort" by Anonymous Flier

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 22:17:25 -0400

Comment by an Anonymous Flier on Brookeridge Air Park, United States:

Nice People !!!

[KORD] "re: Why Is It ORD" by Anonymous Flier

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 12:16:12 -0400

Comment by an Anonymous Flier on Chicago O'Hare International Airport, United States:

According to the wikipedia entry for O'Hare (which I can't link as an anonymous coward) the airport was originally Orchard Field Airport.

[4H1] "re: Why does this helistop exist?" by Anonymous Flier

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 21:50:32 -0400

Comment by an Anonymous Flier on Schaumburg Municipal Helistop, United States:

Reply to @ptomblin:

Nope, no hospital nearby. This is a municipal helistop and is in the middle of a large area of office buildings. My guess is that planners thought that there would be some helicopter traffic to and from the buildings and wanted to plan for general access instead of every building needing it's own stop. This, obviously, was not needed as the helicopter as a mode of everyday travel is simply silly for most people.

[KFEP] "KFEP - Freeport/Albertus - Second Time." by airbound

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 20:31:38 -0400

Comment by @airbound on Albertus Airport, United States:

Always like going into Freeport to meet up with the parents. Nice long strip, however it was short field landings today to maintain proficiency.

[KGBG] "Bought gas here" by svanarts

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 19:20:25 -0400

Comment by @svanarts on Galesburg Municipal Airport, United States:

Just a quick stop for gas on my way to Oklahoma from Oshkosh.

[0C2] "0C2 - Hinckley - Soaring, Soaring, Soaring" by airbound

Sun, 05 Jun 2011 21:12:02 -0400

Comment by @airbound on Hinckley Airport, United States:

Windy City Soaring based at Hinckley (0C2).

Nice Grass Strip 2600x100.

Enjoyed a day of Soaring over North Central Illinois thanks to the Windy City Soaring club. Go check it out.

[KLOT] "LOT - Lewis - Mixed traffic" by airbound

Wed, 11 May 2011 10:42:25 -0400

Comment by @airbound on Lewis University Airport, United States:

Busy field during primary training with mixed traffic. Pattern always seemed full and extending downwind was normal.

[KC09] "C09 - Morris - Quiet Airport" by airbound

Wed, 11 May 2011 10:39:19 -0400

Comment by @airbound on Morris Municipal James R. Washburn field, United States:

Nice for practice field outside of busy Chicago airspace.

[KC77] "C77 - Poplar Grove - Hard and Soft" by airbound

Wed, 11 May 2011 10:36:09 -0400

Comment by @airbound on Poplar Grove Airport, United States:

Great airport for both Hard surface and soft surface TO/LDG

[K1C5] "1C5 - Clow International - First Starts" by airbound

Tue, 10 May 2011 21:06:48 -0400

Comment by @airbound on Bolingbrook's Clow International Airport, United States:

I started primary training here a long while back.

Home to A&M Aviation - excellent training and services. Thanks Al.

[K3CK] "3CK - Lake in the Hills - Blue Skies Pilot Shop" by airbound

Tue, 10 May 2011 21:04:31 -0400

Comment by @airbound on Lake in the Hills Airport, United States:

Just an awesome training, flying service and friendly people around.

[K06C] "06C - Schaumburg - Pilot Pete's !" by airbound

Tue, 10 May 2011 21:03:08 -0400

Comment by @airbound on Schaumburg Regional Airport, United States:

What else to say - nice airport with a great restaurant under a class B shelf

[H49] "that's me standing there" by Anonymous Flier

Tue, 10 May 2011 08:28:58 -0400

Comment by an Anonymous Flier on Sackman Field, United States:

we were looking at the work that was just done to the txy.

[K06C] "Pilot Pete's" by Rosenkavalier

Thu, 14 Oct 2010 15:13:23 -0400

Comment by @Rosenkavalier on Schaumburg Regional Airport, United States:

Great airport restaurant

[KCGX] "Chicago Meigs Airport" by Anonymous Flier

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 04:01:35 -0400

Comment by an Anonymous Flier on Chicago Meigs Airport, United States:

I can't believe the airport is closed. It was my default airfield for Microsoft's Flight Simulator and I have landed there hundreds of times and flown to and from O'Hare airport as many times. It's a shame!

[KORD] "re: Why Is It ORD" by Anonymous Flier

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 18:45:06 -0400

Comment by an Anonymous Flier on Chicago O'Hare International Airport, United States:

Reply to @XingR:

Actually the original name of the airport was Orchard Downs "ORD"

[KCGX] "Meigs" by Anonymous Flier

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 08:06:08 -0500

Comment by an Anonymous Flier on Chicago Meigs Airport, United States:

I had the pleasure of stopping here in late 1998 before it was criminally bulldozed. Absolutely FANTASTIC setting. They even made us do a go-around while they shot the "cannon" at geese near the runway, so we got a bonus view of being in the pattern well below the skyscrapers!

[86IL] "code 86IL" by rrobledo

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:46:54 -0500

Comment by @rrobledo on Sharp Airport, United States:

The FAA uses '86IL' for Sharp Airport, Bethany, IL

[IL50] "codes 6IS6 and IL50" by rrobledo

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:21:55 -0500

Comment by @rrobledo on Memorial Hospital Heliport, United States:

The FAA uses 'IL50" instead of 'SIS6' for this airport

[4H1] "re: Why does this helistop exist?" by ptomblin

Tue, 05 May 2009 13:42:56 -0400

Comment by @ptomblin on Schaumburg Municipal Helistop, United States:

That big building across the street is probably a hospital.

[5LL7] "re: North South Rwy Obstructed" by Anonymous Flier

Tue, 05 May 2009 13:24:04 -0400

Comment by an Anonymous Flier on Hilbert's Funny Farm Airport, United States:

Oops, didn't mean to imply that the airport was unusable... The E/W runway is 1800 feet long, and clear at both ends.

[5LL7] "North South Rwy Obstructed" by Anonymous Flier

Tue, 05 May 2009 13:23:05 -0400

Comment by an Anonymous Flier on Hilbert's Funny Farm Airport, United States:

Although this airport has a 1300 foot north/south strip, it's pretty much unusuable due to the high tension power lines at the south end of the field.

[4H1] "Why does this helistop exist?" by Anonymous Flier

Tue, 05 May 2009 13:08:31 -0400

Comment by an Anonymous Flier on Schaumburg Municipal Helistop, United States:

Anyone know why this exists? 06C is practically right around the corner, so I have to imagine that there was a specific reason to build this helipad where it is.

[I01] "Greetings From Poland" by Anonymous Flier

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 16:18:15 -0500

Comment by an Anonymous Flier on Empress River Casino Heliport, United States:

Hello to all ! Greetings From Poland. very Good Page !

[2IL7] "Well maintained grass field" by IDisposable

Sat, 31 Jan 2009 03:57:25 -0500

Comment by @IDisposable on Ben Emge Airport, United States:

This is a nice E/W field adjacent to Illinois Route 15 between Belleville, IL and East St. Louis, IL. Very easy to sight on due to diagonal SW/NE 4-lane highway right next to it. St. Elizabeth's Hospital is very quickly reached from here.

[KCGX] "Such a shame!" by Capitano.Nico

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 08:35:34 -0400

Comment by @Capitano.Nico on Chicago Meigs Airport, United States:

This beautiful airport was closed by criminals!

[KMDW] "The Busiest Square Mile in Aviation" by rodrakic

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 11:15:35 -0400

Comment by @rodrakic on Chicago Midway International Airport, United States:

Midway is my home 'drome.

It's an amazing place. Commercial, Biz, and general aviation all in one square mile patch of city.

Everything from SWA 737s, to Lears, and down to 152s... 3 FBOs, 2 Flight Schools...

I love this place.

[KPJY] "re: Rec.aviation" by ptomblin

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 08:12:38 -0400

Comment by @ptomblin on Pinckneyville Du Quoin Airport, United States:

I believe you just did. More details at

http://www.ousterhout.net/pjy-faq.html

[KPJY] "Rec.aviation" by oshawapilot

Sun, 26 Aug 2007 20:54:46 -0400

Comment by @oshawapilot on Pinckneyville Du Quoin Airport, United States:

I can't believe that nobody has mentioned the annual rec.aviation PJY fly-in here yet!

[KCGX] "Friends of Meigs" by david

Sun, 29 Jul 2007 16:30:55 -0400

Comment by @david on Chicago Meigs Airport, United States:

People still haven't given up on reopening Meigs:

http://www.friendsofmeigs.org/

[KCMI] "Minor correction" by XingR

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 05:33:11 -0400

Comment by @XingR on University of Illinois Willard Airport, United States:

Hmmm should have looked that up first ... I was in japan when that incident happened, 1998, and only heard the news second-hand. I note that several sources say the Air Force One that got stuck was a 707 not a 747. The president (Clinton) was carried away by a back-up aircraft, AF 26000, the same 707 that carried Kennedy to Dallas and his body home to Washington ... making Clinton the last sitting president ever to board that historic aircraft. Interesting.

[KCMI] "Noted for narrow taxiways" by XingR

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 05:26:06 -0400

Comment by @XingR on University of Illinois Willard Airport, United States:

Flew in here several times when I was stationed at Chanute AFB and flew with the Aero Club there. A nice field for training, all mod cons and little traffic. Will go down in history as one of the few places Air Force One ever had a reportable incident ... they cut a turn too short one day and ran one of AF One's bogeys into the black Illinois mud ... the president was transported by other means and the 747 was freed the next day. Since it was a military aircraft and the military, in the interest of national security (or is that the protection of pilot's from embarrassment) restricts all accident reports, even those from many years ago from public access. It's a shame the today's pilots can learn from the lessons of all commercial and private accidents, but can't learn from the findings of Air Force accidents ... which are very well investigated, by the way. Sad.

[KBLV] "Failed reliever" by david

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 15:46:22 -0400

Comment by @david on Scott AFB/Midamerica Airport, United States:

This airport is a join military-civilian facility in Illinois, but the civilian part (MidAmerica) was designed to server as a reliever for St-Louis (STL), just across the state line. However, it has never attracted any major airline service, and has been controversial as a result. The east runway (on the right of the image) is the one civilian one, maintained by St. Clair Co, IL., while the west runway is in the military base.

[KORD] "Why Is It ORD" by XingR

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 07:52:52 -0400

Comment by @XingR on Chicago O'Hare International Airport, United States:

The name is O'Hare after a WWII aviator from Chicago. But the ORD designator come from the past. The present airport is built on the site of another, older airport that was known as Old Orchard Airport. You learn a lot when you've been stuck in terminals for hours and hours ... and when your itinerary includes KORD ... bank on it.

[KTIP] "A Home on the Prarie" by XingR

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 17:55:39 -0400

Comment by @XingR on Rantoul National Avn Center-Frank Elliot field, United States:

I first flew in here as a pax in December 1965. This was one of the USAF's finest Technical Training Centers. Went to my first USAF tech school here, became a technical classroom instructor and worked in the school for a while (training ran 24 hours a day at the time, 4 six hour shifts, LBJ was serious about getting bombs on target).

I went back to Chanute someyears later and became a computer geek, back when core memory was a significant step up from drum memory, which was the main memory (and system timing) for the early-day full task mission flight simulators. That was about the time that my technical life seemed to start accelerating at an ever increasing rate.

Since it was probably the best equipped tech training facility the USAF in its infinite wisdom selected Chanute to be closed in a down-sizing move. The people of Rantoul have done a marvelous job converting the former base property to useful functions.

[KMTO] "Food" by Crash7

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 12:08:29 -0400

Comment by @Crash7 on Coles County Memorial Airport, United States:

Home of the monster tenderloin

[KMLI] "Chik 'Fil-A" by Crash7

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 12:02:31 -0400

Comment by @Crash7 on Quad City International Airport, United States:

The mall North of airport has a Chik 'Fil-A. Yum.

[KTAZ] "Look out below" by Crash7

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 12:00:08 -0400

Comment by @Crash7 on Taylorville Municipal Airport, United States:

Lots of skydiving here.

[KSPI] "Home sweet home" by Crash7

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 11:58:46 -0400

Comment by @Crash7 on Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport, United States:

[KC81] "My aviation birthplace." by Oblivion

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 11:15:43 -0400

Comment by @Oblivion on Campbell Airport, United States:

I did my Private Pilot training here.