Midwest and Great Lakes Autumn Adventure
| << Leg 6 - Detroit, MI to Fort Wayne, IN | Trip Home | Leg 8 - Chicago, IL to Minneapolis, MN >> |
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Leg Stats
- Time Enroute: 1.3 hrs
- Distance (direct): 123nm
- Distance (actual): 153nm
- Fuel Used: 14 gal
On Saturday we took it easy in the morning, since there was considerable cloudiness early on and likely icing weather. Today would be a VFR-below-the-cloud-deck kind of day. I knew we had a window of decent weather to get into Chicago today, but then a mild cold front was due to pass over during the night. This would 'strand' us in Chicago for a couple days, but I had hoped to spend some time there anyway.
We loaded up and departed Ft Wayne around 11:30am and headed towards Chicago. The weather was scattered near Fort Wayne, but become more like broken or overcast at 2500 feet or so closer to Gary, Indiana. Once we got closer, I asked for and was granted a transit through the Gary Class D along the shore, and we headed towards the Chicago skyline. I decided that today was my best bet at doing a Chicago skyline scenic flight, so before we headed into Midway, I made a quick loop up and down the shoreline, so we could enjoy the awesome views of the city. Afterwards, I contacted Midway approach (being run by the tower directly, according to ATIS), and was quickly sequenced in to land on 04L. We parked at Atlantic, which had surprisingly reasonable fees (only $20/night) and very friendly service for my single piston.
In the FBO I picked a hotel and we Ubered to the city. We walked around some with Magic, got some Chicago Hotdogs, and then avoided the very large street protest in Millenium Park near Cloud Gate. I decided last-minute to buy us tickets to see Hamilton for the evening, which was excellent! The next day we did some more sightseeing, got the obligatory Chicago deepdish pizza, and visited the Museum of Science and Industry and walked along the river somewhat.
Trip Leg Navigation
<< Leg 6 - Detroit, MI to Fort Wayne, IN
