Burnham Harbor in Chicago was locked down

[gjrylands]

Yesterday, June 15 Burnham Harbor in Chicago was locked down. No boats were allowed to enter or leave the harbor without being escorted by the Coast Guard between 9:00 AM and 2:00 PM. There were K-9 patrols, mounted police, motor cycle cops, beat cops, marine police, secret service, fire engines, ambulances, and swat: plus snipers on the roof tops, all to protect President Obama. He flew in for a luncheon and speech. His landing zone was only a few hundred yards from my boat, and from my bridge a few friends and I had a pretty good view. They flew in with 5 helicopters. The first two were military. The third and fourth were identical presidential helicopters. The fifth one was a gunship that didn’t land, but circled above ready to spring into action if needed.

Once the helicopters had landed our view was obstructed by a row of buses, no doubt placed there to shield the President from being seen from the harbor. Shortly after the last chopper landed, motor cycles escorted the Presidential limo and several other vehicles to the Hilton, where the meeting was taking place. About an hour and a half later the whole scene reversed itself.

His arrival was no surprise. Sunday they had a practice secession of landing the helicopters. They went through four complete cycles to familiarize themselves with the LZ. There were security warnings posted on each gate leading from the piers. We were not allowed to park near the LZ. Entering or exiting the harbor could only be done from the far side of the harbor, totally away from the LZ

[guglielmo6160]

pretty wild stuff, we had a similar thing here a few weeks ago where the coast guard was checking everyone out. They were boarding everyone in the Hudson, and obvioulsy looking for something or someone

[aaronbocknek]

isn't this SOP for every head of state, especially the president of the united states when he visits? i remember when 'bush 2' was in the los angeles area during his first term. the flight i was working had landed just before 'airforce one'. as we began our taxi to the terminal, all runway and taxi way traffic was put on hold. we ended up sitting on the runway waiting to get to our gate for almost an hour. i guess i'm used to things like this having grown up in the suburbs of DC and living in the baltimore/washington area. still, it's always impressive watching 'marine one' land and take off.

[TADTOOMUCH]

I remember when I was about 12, my parents took our new F-32 up North on Lake Michigan and over to Lake Huron to Mackinac (pronounced Mack-in-aw) Island when President Ford was in office. About five of the presidential Marine helicopters flew to a LZ behind the old Fortress on the Island. On this Island there is no automobile allowed except an ambulance and fire truck. Everything else is bicycle or horse drawn. I remember riding my bike as a kid up a road towards the governors mansion which is on a hill on the island and about four secret service guys came out of the woods to greet me and turn me around. I assume Ford was staying at the mansion. That was my brush with the secret service and they have been tailing me ever since I'm sure of it.

[rossjo]

Are you near Meigs Field?

In the 90's, we used to land the company Lear Jet there. It was a VERY short strip, but it was very cool to land there, but even better to take off, because the pilot (a friend of mine) would have to hold the brakes, gun the jets and let go ...

Guess its closed now, thanks to Daley.

[Jerry]

We are going through the same thing as we speak. Bush II is coming today and will be about 50 yards from my boat at our convention center. They have been landing and taking off every hour just about all night long. Should be an interesting day.

[gjrylands]

.

Are you near Meigs Field?

In the 90's, we used to land the company Lear Jet there. It was a VERY short strip, but it was very cool to land there, but even better to take off, because the pilot (a friend of mine) would have to hold the brakes, gun the jets and let go ...

Guess its closed now, thanks to Daley.

Yes, Burnham Harbor is adjacent to the old Meigs Field, now Northerly Island.

Ya, Meigs Field no longer exists. The mayor's wife Maggie is a green freak and hated the airport. Right after 9/11 Dailey pushed to have downtown Chicago declared "A No Fly Zone", stating that Sears Tower would be a target. The second President Bush included Chicago with New York and Washington DC as "A No Fly Zone".

That night Mayor Dailey had back hoes dig X’s in the runways even though it was against federal law. He had been trying to get rid of the airport for years. That event killed the airport.

It’s a disgrace what has happened to the land. The southern end is grass lands. Not grass like you would expect, but wild grass and weeds like the prairies of old. There is a hiking trail that almost no one uses. The center area is used as park district storage. The north end is a stage for concerts, the “Charter One Pavilion”

[David Kane]

How times have changed! When I lived in So. Calif., Nixon was in office. A guy I worked with had a house on a ridgeline that overlooked Nixon's 'western White House'. You could see right down into the compound.

[aaronbocknek]

CGX or meigs field? wow, that's a blast from aviations past. at one time AIR ILLINOIS operated two 36 seat Hawker-Siddeley HS 748 turboprops (tail numbers N748LL and N749LL) from CGX to various cities in the midwest then later, from O'hare, (ORD) using 2 leased 74 passenger BAC 1-11 twin jet aircraft from US Air. (tail numbers N1542 and N1547). the jets were never allowed to land at meigs, but the 748's were based there until the airline ceased operations in april of 1984. it's a shame that the airport was destroyed. it would have made a perfect landing strip for dash-8's or twin otters and access to close in chicago.
aviation trivia ---AIR ILLINOIS, former IATA code UX, operated from 1970 until 1984.

[rossjo]

CGX or KCGX ...

Funny that Dailey claimed getting rid of it improved security. With it there, Chicago was closed airspace, and required radio contact to enter. Now, any plane can come to within 1000 feet of any building (including the Sears Tower)with NO radio contact. Brilliant!

More air trivia - this is the default airport you started from in MS Flight Simulator in the 80s!

It was wild being 50 feet above of lake Michigan with the jets kicked up to full speed (passing over GJRYLANDS' boat?)