Chicago City Flight
Since I'll mostly be using my flight privileges to fly friends around the city, I figured it'd be prudent to get some dual time learning that track.
So, for this flight, my instructor and I went through the terminal area chart and determined the best route around the city. There are a number of things to keep in mind as this is a relatively busy area.
Besides the typical GA traffic in the area, there are also banner towing flights around the city. Actually, on this flght we did come within a few miles of a banner flight. We saw it off to the west as we were heading north and it passed behind us without issue.Traffic into Midway, O'Hare, and Gary also has to be kept in mind.
The next obstacle is avoiding the airspace. We leave lansing (IGQ) in G airspace, then quickly ascend into class E. We want to stay in class E for the rest of the trip, avoiding Gary's class D, Midway's class C, and O'Hare's class B.
You can see the limited space between C and D in the below picture. There's also class B above you at 3,600 ft.
When approaching the city, there is the inner tier of class C as well as a lower shelf of class B (1,900 ft)
The best procedure is to stay between the two big lakes while heading toward the lake. The best altitude to maintain is 2,500 feet if you stay away from the western airspace shelves.
After the trip, it turns out that it's pretty self explanatory. It's always worth having someone along that knows the area.
Flight Track: Google Earth File
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