Ready for #OSH24 yet? If so, there is a good chance the majority of you may fly around and/or over Chicago. If so, I recommend flying a skyline tour on the way there and/or back. Start by grabbing (or downloading nowadays) a Chicago Terminal Area Chart (TAC) and becoming familiar with the airspace. The elevation of Chicago is below 1,000 ft MSL (generally between 500 and 650 ft MSL). Downtown Chicago is along the shore and there are two major commercial airports: Chicago O’Hare (KORD) (https://www.airnav.com/airport/KORD) and Chicago Midway (KMDW) (https://www.airnav.com/airport/KMDW). KORD is in Class B and KMDW is in Class C, under the Class B (why the Class C over KMDW says “T” as the top of the Class C which is the base of the Class B). However, one can remain under Class B along the shore below 1,900 ft MSL. There are also several General Aviation (GA) airports and heliports. For this exercise, we especially want to become familiar with the Waukegan Airport (KUGN) (https://www.airnav.com/airport/KUGN) on the north end and the Gary/Chicago Airport (KGYY) (https://www.airnav.com/airport/KGYY) on the south side because they are also along the water and in Class D (with a ceiling of 3,200 ft and 3,100 ft MSL respectively). Speaking to those controllers may be necessary if you go that far north and south respectively. I’ll design a route north to south since that’s how most people (including the helicopter air tours) do it. It is especially handy if you have passengers on the right side of the airplane, but it can be flown in both directions of course. The idea is to have the city on one wing and Lake Michigan on the other.
Below is a picture of the TAC showing the suggested route. Source: ForeFlight
Keep an eye on NOTAMs, especially blanket stadium ones, and always, always look for other traffic. They all should have ADS-B Out and, therefore, if you have ADS-B In, they should appear on your screen but… still look out the window! Even though you may be able to stay below/outside of airspace, I always recommend getting VFR flight following. Sunrise and early morning are great times to do this tour since the sun rises from the east and lights up the downtown buildings.
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