Meigs Field one year later

DB

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Mar 30, 2004, 11:11:43 PM3/30/04

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Lest we forget...

http://www.aopa.org/images/whatsnew/newsitems/2004/04-1-160x.jpg

Gavin

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Mar 30, 2004, 11:49:13 PM3/30/04

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I think i'm gonna be ill.

"DB" <s...@lamba.net> wrote in message
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Top-poster

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Mar 31, 2004, 12:23:20 AM3/31/04

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Pardon my ignorance, but what happened to it ?

"DB" <s...@lamba.net> wrote in message
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donbutts

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Mar 31, 2004, 1:28:59 AM3/31/04

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If I recall correctly despite public protest the bulldozers moved in
unexpectedly one night and ripped up parts of the the runway thus allowing
immediate closure. There were aircraft left on the ground stranded.
Don

"Top-poster" <me_a...@btinternet.com> wrote in message
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GARY CUSACK

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Mar 31, 2004, 2:09:07 AM3/31/04

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why did they do that without notice was it legal???

donbutts

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Mar 31, 2004, 2:14:44 AM3/31/04

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"GARY CUSACK" <gcu...@nospam.bigpond.net.au> wrote in message
news:n8uac.132606$Wa.3...@news-server.bigpond.net.au...

> why did they do that without notice was it legal???
>

There was one very controversial mayor behind it all. I'll have to pass
the rest of the story over to a local..

Don

Dave Pitzer

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Mar 31, 2004, 2:15:18 AM3/31/04

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"GARY CUSACK" <gcu...@nospam.bigpond.net.au> wrote in message
news:n8uac.132606$Wa.3...@news-server.bigpond.net.au...

> why did they do that without notice was it legal???
>
>

FOLLOW THE MONEY. A bunch of Chicago politicians were wined, dined and
pocket-lined!

Dave Pitzer
=============

Mark

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Mar 31, 2004, 2:52:37 AM3/31/04

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Take a look here http://www.abacuspub.com/freepress/meigs.htm for some
more info on what happend :-(

Mark

** Remove the alternative to spam to mail **

stanmc

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Mar 31, 2004, 6:00:34 AM3/31/04

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The Mayor and his wife, as well as some very well off Chicagoans in a
new development of homes, live directly West of the football field in
the picture. Airports are noisy. The Mayor wants a park built on that
land. One of the posts said the Mayor is controversial. Depsite his
alleged MOB ties, he is a shoe-in for reelection.

The airport was often used by people flying in for downtown business
meetings, but the Mayor correctly points out that there are several
other airports "nearby". O'Hare (20+ miles), Midway (10+ miles) and Gary
(no estimate).
However, they are not as convenient for business execs who might want to
conduct or bring business to Chicago.

This was justified on the issue of Homeland Security and 9/11.

Coder Droid

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Mar 31, 2004, 8:28:51 AM3/31/04

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> This was justified on the issue of Homeland Security and 9/11.

Never mind the fact that this probably now makes downtown LESS safe.
Having a control tower right there provided a close-by alert system for
any suspicious flying activity.

Here's the official Meigs "fan site":

http://friendsofmeigs.org/

--cd

stanmc

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Mar 31, 2004, 8:57:31 AM3/31/04

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My use of the term justified meant the Mayor's basis for justification.
The airport had other advantages also. Those of us who live along the
lakefront could get the weather report based on lakefront conditions
rather than Midway or O'Hare.

I agree with you about the tower providing some alerting capability. The
planes that wreaked havoc on 9/11 did not fly to an airport and land and
blow up, but flew into tall buildings. So the proximity of a landing
strip like Meigs isn't really an issue. They also were large jets. I
suppose a plane capable of landing at Meigs could also cause terrible
destruction, but then why would you try and stuff explosives into a
plane at such a public place since smaller planes without explosives
wouldn't do the damage a 737 or bigger would cause. I don't think a twin
Cessna without explosives would do much damage to the Sears Tower.

The Friends of Meigs Field plans show a beautiful picture which appears
to remove the boat harbor. I don't how the Mayor's plans affected the
boat harbor. I suppose that issue will cause some problems.

My original post didn't convey the sarcasm I intended. The Mayor just
wants his park and he doesn't want the noise of a downtown airport. I
have a friend who lives near the mayor and she complained about the
noise of Meigs, but she also didn't like the noise of the freight
railroad or the commuter rail services nearby either. I guess you
shouldn't move to areas with noise potential if you are sensitive to it.

Marcel Kuijper

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Mar 31, 2004, 2:33:36 PM3/31/04

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"DB" wrote:
> Lest we forget...
>
> http://www.aopa.org/images/whatsnew/newsitems/2004/04-1-160x.jpg

That looks so surreal!!
It's hard to believe it's really gone!

Marcel

Mike Levy

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Mar 31, 2004, 4:54:54 PM3/31/04

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On Wed, 31 Mar 2004 13:57:31 GMT, stanmc <stanmc...@ameritech.net>
wrote:

We live right under the approach to RWY 18 (or is it 16?) at KALB.
The centerline of planes coming from nearly due North pass almost
precisely over the ridge of our home. We don't complain about the
noise, the aitrport was there long before the homes were, so my family
moved in KNOWING noise may happen. We just live with it, though it's
not a frequently used runway, at least not daily. Even the cargo
planes flying over at 1 AM don't bother us THAT much. We're MAYBE 15
miles out from the end of the runway, the gear is down on many planes
before they pass over us. The point is, these people live in a big
city (Chicago is classified as a big city, right?), they should be
able to deal with a littlke noise, especially the small amount a
little airport such as Meigs would produce compared to what O'Hare
does.

americanflag9190

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Mar 31, 2004, 7:03:22 PM3/31/04

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The parked aircraft were bulldozed along with it???
"Marcel Kuijper" <zoep...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
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Coder Droid

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Mar 31, 2004, 8:07:39 PM3/31/04

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> The parked aircraft were bulldozed along with it???

No. The night of the bulldozing [and it was at night -- a regular
on-the-level job here, ya know] all they did was carve X's into the
runway. They gave the stranded planes a few days to get out. FAA gave
approval to take off from the taxiways.

What you see in the picture didn't happen until much later. There was a
period where people hoped they'd be able to repair the runways and be
back in business. As you can see, not very likely at this point.

I'm still positively flummoxed that the mayor could just mow down an
airport with no repercussions at all. What happens when he decides the
Adler Planetarium is blocking his view of the lake and he thinks there
should be a park there? Mow it down! It's okay! I'm the mayor!

--cd

stanmc

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Apr 1, 2004, 8:29:58 AM4/1/04

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The Adler Planetarium is very acceptable to his plan for a lakefront
park system. He wants to have a park that will generate revenue like
Navy Pier does. Tourism is very important to Chicago. Most tourists
didn't fly into Meigs.

The Mayor had threatened Meigs with shutdown in 1996 eventually the
Governor of Illinois negotiated an agreement that it would be kept open
for many more years. The Mayor was extremely unhappy, but he couldn't do
anything until he was given a very handy excuse/justification with the
9/11 issues.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chicago area newspaper Daily Southtown March 28, 2004--

http://www.dailysouthtown.com/southtown/dsindex/28-ds2.htm

"For years, Daley made no secret of his desire to turn Meigs into
Chicago's next great park.

The airport nearly met its demise in 1996, but former Gov. Jim Edgar,
arguing Meigs was a important link between the state capital and
Chicago, fought to keep it open. In 2001, it was guaranteed to keep
operating for 25 years as part of an agreement between Daley and
then-Gov. George Ryan to expand O'Hare International Airport and to
build an airport near Peotone.

In the days after the surprise closing, Daley insisted he was trying to
discourage terrorists from attacking Chicago in small planes. The mayor
later admitted his reasons were rooted in his old desire to turn the
property into a park."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

The article discusses some of the impact of closing Meigs on the
surrounding airports especially Midway.

When I "take off from the Chicago area" in fs2004 I still use Meigs. I
don't want it removed.

2Poor2Fly4Real

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Apr 1, 2004, 3:36:18 PM4/1/04

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I just hope MS continues to include it in FS; it's probably the only place anyone will ever be able to experience it, short of a miracle.

Mike T
--
When I had Money, I could fly.
Then I got Married...then we got a Mortgage...then we had a Munchkin.
She has three Ms, I have none. I'm...
2Poor2Fly4Real

"stanmc" <stanmc...@ameritech.net> wrote in message news:qPUac.46314$Nv3....@newssvr16.news.prodigy.com...

stanmc

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Apr 1, 2004, 4:02:54 PM4/1/04

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2Poor2Fly4Real wrote:
> I just hope MS continues to include it in FS; it's probably the only place anyone will ever be able to experience it, short of a miracle.
>
> Mike T

My sentiments exactly!!!

Tom Orle

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Apr 1, 2004, 6:43:37 PM4/1/04

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"2Poor2Fly4Real" <uumti...@hotmail.com> wrote:

>I just hope MS continues to include it in FS; it's probably the only place anyone will ever be able to experience it, short of a miracle.
>
>Mike T

But then it won't be 'as real as it gets' :-))
They didn't keep Hong Kongs Kai-Tak!

You'll just have to rely on addons!

-=tom=-

2Poor2Fly4Real

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Apr 1, 2004, 8:29:41 PM4/1/04

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If that's what it'll take, I'll learn how to install the landscape add-ons. I still get absolutely livid when I think back to that episode, and at 44 yrs old & 80 lbs overweight, I need to avoid that much emotion. I have a wife & kid to support....

Mike T.

--
When I had Money, I could fly.
Then I got Married...then we got a Mortgage...then we had a Munchkin.
She has three Ms, I have none. I'm...
2Poor2Fly4Real

(remove "nospam" from address for direct replies)

"Tom Orle" <xspam...@att.net> wrote in message news:v1ap60pif8703fh4p...@4ax.com...

Coder Droid

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Apr 2, 2004, 8:11:10 AM4/2/04

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> I just hope MS continues to include it in FS;

On the offchance they do get rid of it in the future, is there a way to
"save" an airport (or any scenery for that matter) out of the existing
game and import it into a future game, provided the file formats don't
change?

I can't imagine Flight Simulator without it.

--cd

Tony Smith

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Apr 3, 2004, 12:28:01 PM4/3/04

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Surely Microsoft will now have to select a new 'default'
airport.

Nominations?

Tony
www.msfsgateway.com <= loads of flight sim add-on links

"Coder Droid" <coder...@likethiswouldstopspam.hotmail.com>
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Katy

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Apr 3, 2004, 3:05:24 PM4/3/04

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>Surely Microsoft will now have to select a new 'default'
>airport.
>
>Nominations?

The default in FS2004 is KSEA...

---
All the Best
Katy Pluta, FS_MVP

FS FAQ at http://www.simflight.com

Visit Project Magenta!
http://www.projectmagenta.com

Bill Leaming

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Apr 3, 2004, 3:34:34 PM4/3/04

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Katy wrote:
>>Surely Microsoft will now have to select a new 'default'
>>airport.
>>
>>Nominations?
>
>
> The default in FS2004 is KSEA...

I have a feeling that was a *very old* message! :)

Bill

--
Fr. Bill Leaming
n4...@comcast.net
ICQ 12881426

"Some people grasp stupidity as though it were a virtue.
Some people grow with responsibility - others swell.
Some rise by sin and some by virtue fall.
Some are wise; others are otherwise.
Utrum lex sit actus intellectus seu voluntatis."

Tony Smith

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Apr 3, 2004, 3:52:54 PM4/3/04

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So it is - I hadn't noticed that Meigs wasn't the default in
FS2004 before now. There is a Meigs flight as well.

Tony
www.msfsgateway.com

"Katy" <katy...@hotmail.invalid> wrote in message
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Mac4TBH

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Apr 4, 2004, 7:40:46 PM4/4/04

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Does anyone remember Marsh field in Yuma Arizona... it is now a freeway!!!!!
I remember it well...
Gee does anyone remember the train station in Yuma... I can still see the
trains...

Mac from the old folks home on SSDI street

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Mac4TBH

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Apr 9, 2004, 1:06:40 PM4/9/04

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Well so much for Yuma LOL

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donbutts

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Apr 9, 2004, 4:21:43 PM4/9/04

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a bugger when no one replies eh Mac. had to laugh!! you gotta have a sense
of Yuma.

Don

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