Airport & FBO Recommendations for Chicago

[Jeff_S]

I searched the forum for this and couldn't find anything related, so thought I'd post to the group. There's a slight chance I'll be going to Chicago in late May. Rather than hop on Delta, I'd rather take the Mooney. Looking for recommendations on best airport and FBO that would be accessible to the city, as I'd be staying downtown at the Peninsula.

Thanks!

(And please, no Meigs Field laments...no sense in dreaming about something that I can't use!)

[LFOD]

KMDW. I flew in there with my Mooney and had a great experience. They have a shuttle to the orange line and I remember the prices being reasonable for an airport of that size/location. 

[KSMooniac]

I'll second the Midway recommendation...I flew there a couple of years ago and it worked out well so long as you're comfortable keeping your speed up and sharp on the radio.  I can't remember the name of the FBO I used, but it had the cheapest fuel on the field and a free shuttle to the orange line for a cheap and fast ride to downtown.  Having a rental car while visiting/staying downtown seemed to be much more trouble than it is worth.

[jlunseth]

Isn't the landing fee at Midway fairly stiff?

[DanM20C]

I flew into Schaumburg Regional (06C) a few months ago.  The FBO is Northwest Flyers.  They had my rental car waiting for me on the ramp.  The rental car was only 30 or 35 bucks a day.  If you have to go downtown someone will run you over to the train station about 1mile away.  Northwest Flyers is also a Mooney Service Center.  Good piece of mind when you’re away from your home base.

Dan

 

[Bob]

Midway is realy the only wise option for downtown.  As everyone said, shuttles run all day long to the train to downtown Chicago.  You do pay a landing fee, If I remember $15 or $25, but sometimes we have to do that.  All other options will put you too far from the city and in a rent-a-car and it just won't be worth it.  Just remember, the Chicago controlers talk very, very fast.  Don't space out or you will think you are at an live auction.  Listen to liveatc.net for 10-20 minutes and you will get confortable fast.  The nice thing is Midway, class Charlie, is south of the Ohare Bravo so you should avoid being vectored from Georgia.  Please make sure your database and charts are current!  The Chicago Bravo space changed a few months back.  They stretched it East and West quite abit.  If you do an air tour of the Chicago lakefront, you will only add about 15 min total to you flight.  It is pretty cool and there is plenty of room, agl is 775 and Bravo starts at 3000msl.  If you do want to land in the burbs and add one hour drive time, Schaumburg (06C) would be my first pic if vfr with low winds due to no instrument approach and only 1 runway.  Landing at Dupage (DPA) will let you come in with 4 runway options and many approaches.  PM me if you would ike more info.  Enjoy your trip!

[rorythedog]

aurora....easy.

less than an hour to the loop.

[jelswick]

I'd love to take the family there for Giordano's deep dish pizza and a weekend, but still a bit too bitter about what they did with Meigs.  That close to the aquarium, planetarium, museums, etc. and closed to make a park.  Still pi#$es me off.  Hopefully I'll get over it at some point as I can smell that pizza just thinking about it!  Midway would be our landing point at that time.

[Bob]

Put Lou Malnati's Pizza on the list for anyone comeing into town.  I would rate it #1 in Chicago.  Many locations in the city.  Also one is just 3 miles from Schaumburg (06C) for anyone that is just stopping while passing thru the area.  As far as Meigs, they could not take it without being sneaky, in the middle of the night.  That is when all crooks do their crimes.  Yes, sad!

[jax88]

I'll ditto Lou Malnati's!  We lived out in Schaumburg for a while, and we loved it.  We still manage to get the FedEx delivery on occassion.

[mooneyman]

Going to Chicago in a couple of weeks. Any recommendations for FBO at MDW?

[74657]

I would say Meigs but RMD had his way with it and now the field is a damn park.  What a loss for GA that choice was.  I remember flying in there when I was a kid with my buddy, his dad and their Cherokee 180.  Took a 30 minute flight to Meigs, grabbed a taxi to McDonalds, went to FAO Schwartz and flew back home, all on a Sunday afternoon.

[Bob]

Never flew into Midway, since I live in Chicago, but had a pilot friend that used Millionaire and I remember him saying they were great.  I remember his saying they took care of everything fast and ran a shuttle to the train that goes to downtown.  He flew a "Private" charter in for a "Pleasure" flight.

http://www.flamingoair.net/flight_of_fancy.html

[mooneyman]

Quote: Bob

Never flew into Midway, since I live in Chicago, but had a pilot friend that used Millionaire and I remember him saying they were great.  I remember his saying they took care of everything fast and ran a shuttle to the train that goes to downtown.  He flew a "Private" charter in for a "Pleasure" flight.

http://www.flamingoair.net/flight_of_fancy.html

[LFOD]

I used Odyssey last time. Absolutely no issues and they were a pleasure to deal with.

[mooneyman]

Finally made our trip to Chicago this past weekend after rescheduling in May due to weather.

Flew into MDW. It was a challenge in a good way. The controllers talk very fast but were helpful. They changed me from 31C to 31L on short final which made for a few intense minutes.

 Once on the ground, it was an easy taxi to Signature Aviation. Line guys were great. We got help with our bags and they called us a taxi. Traffic was light and we were downtown in about 20 minutes.

When we returned yesterday to the airport, we walked into Signature with our bags and were asked if we needed help finding our crew. My wife and I replied, " We are the crew!". Other than an A36 our Mooney was surrounded by CJs and Gulfstreams. Even so, we were treated very well. 

Overall, it was a great experience and I will definitely use MDW and Signature again on our next visit to Chicago.

 

 

 

[carusoam]

For anyone considering a Chicago flight, and flying into Midway sounds too busy....

Escaping Hurricane Irene, we used Gary Indiana (KGYY), SE of Chicago.  Got a rental car, drove into the city in about 45 minutes.  Plenty of instrument approaches including one ILS.

Stayed at a Hampton Inn hotel somewhere in between the airport and the city.  Used the Gary Jet Center for our FBO needs. 

Lansing Municipal KIGQ turned out to be closer to our hotel, also about a 45 minute drive into the city.

I liked the Idea of Midway and staying downtown without a car.  The family of four, plus bags, escaping bad weather, just made a little more sense to go this way, this time.

Best regards,

-a-

[201er]

I too flew to Midway while escaping Irene. I think Odyssey is the FBO I went to. Friendly and helpful. The ramp fee was $40. At $8 a gallon for avgas, it was a bit ridiculous to buy fuel to get the fee waived. Landing fee is something under $10 by mail. They gave us a ride to the train station by crew car and picked us up on the way back. The orange line has trains running at least every 15 minutes and it is only 15-25 minutes to Chicago depending where you are going. It took 1 hour to get from the plane to the museums on Museum Campus. The train is cheap (like $2 something each way). So I think this is a more practical approach than going somewhere else to rent a car because parking in the city is tough or expensive. Most things are in walking distance and the train/water transit is practical.

Here's a short article I wrote about some exhibits at the Field Museum:

http://TrainedParrot.com/Carolina_Parakeet

 

Picture attached and short video of my plane's VIP treatment:

[carusoam]

201er,

What day were you at the Field Museum?  We were there about 4 hours on that Sunday.  At least 2 hours in the birds section.  My kids were reading every description to the last detail.  I thought the museum might close before they finished....

My son was most impressed with falcons and hummingbirds.  My girl is still stuck on the paper machet Dodo as her strongest memory.

What a great place.

Fuel price at the Gary Jet Center was about $.75 cheaper.  We filled up, filed IFR and flew home non-stop in 3.5 hrs. about 180kts.  My original plan was to fly somewhere for "cheap..er" gas then fly home.  Non-stop was the more simple plan.

Best regards,

-a-

[201er]

I was at the museum Saturday. Friday night I departed from NJ and flew to Toledo Express. They had cheap lodging right off the field ($55/night, decent room). Onto MDW next morning. First went to Shed Aquarium, then Field Museum.

Afterward went to KC09 for fuel. At $5.35 a gallon, it was the cheapest (and most run down) full service I have ever witnessed at current prices. Even with the 30 minutes fuel I went out of the way to get gas there, I saved over $150 on the top off! From there it was 2 nights in Cleveland. Burke Lakefront airport was within walking distance of hotels and many museums. Was a fun trip. Only after did I find out I might have been able to get insurance credit for it all too!