Meigs now enjoyed by all!

This place has had more wrecks on a percentage of operations basis than
ORD.


Does it? What are the operations counts for ORD and LL22 and how many
wrecks have they had in the same time period?

Let's see, ORD does 100K's a year, LL22 maybe 10-20 a day.
During my 15 years in the area, Wrecks:
LL22-Two
ORD- an AMR jet hits the dirt, short of the rr. No injuries, but if you
miss the concrete and raise dirt clouds, thats a wreck in my book.
A decent record, but given Murphy's rule maybe a foam-er is due.

JG

So, what? How many people were killed/injured? Property damage? If the
answer is "none," then it is none of your damned business!

Well Orville Wright what do you call this?

Chicago Tribune
September 8, 2001
Author: John Chase, Tribune staff reporter.

A single-engine airplane cut electric and telephone wires Friday but
narrowly missed several homes as it skidded into a bank of trees across
the street from a firehouse near Darien.

The four people inside the six-seat Piper Saratoga escaped serious
injury even though the airplane split into several pieces before coming
to rest on forest preserve property. The plane's cabin remained intact.

"God was on their side," said Denis Vale, an off-duty Chicago police
officer who was among the first witnesses on the scene and helped yank
a passenger out of the plane seconds after it went down. "When I saw
that plane crash, I thought for sure everyone inside was dead."

Officials with the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating
the crash. The pilot, William Helwig Jr., 62, of Downers Grove, said he
had problems immediately after leaving the small airstrip that cuts
through the private Brookeridge subdivision near Darien.

"Upon takeoff, he began having engine difficulty and he tried to circle
back and land it, but he couldn't make it," said Robert Tinucci, chief
administrator with the Darien-Woodridge Fire Protection District. "We
were happy he was able to avoid any structures."

The plane went down just before noon and crashed across the street from
Darien-Woodridge's Fire Station No. 3 at 87th Street and Lemont Road.
Firefighters ran across the street and began tending to the victims,
officials said, and were quickly aided by personnel from other
firehouses and fire departments.

Helwig, an owner of the plane, was in fair condition at Good Samaritan
Hospital in Downers Grove, while his wife Charlene, 59, was treated and
released from Hinsdale Hospital. Stephen Stack, 67, of Chicago was
treated at Hinsdale Hospital and released, while his wife Lois, 53,
remained in fair condition at Good Samaritan with back pain.

Gary Weis, who lives next to the firehouse, was picking tomatoes in his
back yard when he looked over his shoulder and saw the airplane bearing
down his house.

The plane then banked left, Weis said, and avoided hitting his home by
just a few feet. A pine tree in Weis' front yard was cut in half by the
plane, bringing down phone and electric wires, which set some of his
bushes on fire.

"I think the pilot tried to avoid my house, thankfully," Weis said.

Fire officials immediately sprayed foam on the gasoline that leaked out
of the aircraft and put out the brush fires.

"They landed in a pocket between the trees and the homes and they were
lucky," Vale said.

wrote in message
oups.com...

So, what? How many people were killed/injured? Property damage? If the
answer is "none," then it is none of your damned business!

Well Orville Wright what do you call this?

Chicago Tribune
September 8, 2001
Author: John Chase, Tribune staff reporter.

A single-engine airplane cut electric and telephone wires Friday but
narrowly missed several homes as it skidded into a bank of trees across
the street from a firehouse near Darien.

Exactly.

Our community looked at the statistics and decided that we or our children
could be injured by vehicles. There were a couple of deaths over the 20
years that we have been here, and quite a few close calls. And every day
there is a kid being hit somewhere in the city.

So we are closing all the roads and banning cars from our subdivision. (And
there were a *lot* of them in our area... way more than the number of
airplanes at Meigs or even any of those other places).

Most of us are old and retired, so we don't have anywhere to go much anyway.
For those that do, they can walk across the park and catch a bus on the
other side.

A couple of guys owned really nice cars and were quite P.O.'ed about it, but
eventually they just had to leave them somewhere on the other side of the
park and walk like the rest of us.

A few people couldn't take the inconvenience and moved out, but good
riddance to them. They were quite well to do, too, and some said that their
leaving had an "economic impact", whatever that means. And their houses
took a long time to sell... One is still empty... getting kind of
dillapidated, too. We'll probably just tear it down and plant grass on the
lot.

We have a modern big-city hospital in our area, but the ambulances can't get
there directly from the suburbs anymore. When they do, they have to drop
the patients off on the outide of our subdivision, and wheel them into the
hospital on guerneys. It may take a little longer, but really, how many
emergency patients can you possibly get each day. But our children don't
have to worry about the traffic.

And it is really *beautiful* here now. We ripped up the pavement and put it
flower gardens and pools, planted extra tees. And set up some bleachers on
the larger boulevards for concerts and the like. Really pretty.

Strangely, though, I notice that some of our friends and family don't visit
much anymore. And the local businesses don't seem to be doing quite as well
as they once did. The one gas station closed, and the manager has been
having a problem finding another job... I think he's on welfare now.... But
it really only affected maybe 20 or 30 people, this drop in
business...doesn't really affect the community as a whole.

Our latest beef is that we know part of our taxes go toward the upkeep of
roads in other parts of town, but we are going to start working on getting
that corrected, right away.

Cheers. More people should buy homes here. You'll be amazed how safe it is
here now once the cars are gone.

Exactly.

Our community looked at the statistics and decided that we or our children
could be injured by vehicles. There were a couple of deaths over the 20
years that we have been here, and quite a few close calls. And every day
there is a kid being hit somewhere in the city.

Well, your neighbors were bad parents, and the cars didn't drop from
the
sky, and the drivers didn't screw up determining head winds and plane
balance.

"...Just after take off I flew over [a resident's] house to the South
East and he observed the windsock, which is 100 yards from his kitchen,
to be out of the Northeast. This was a 180 degree wind shift from what
I had observed prior to takeoff."

(sure, this happens all the time Orville, winds just rotate like a
blooming
tornado--JG)

According to a police report, "...[The witness] stated that he was in
his back yard working in his garden when he heard a 'very very low
plane'. [The witness] said that he heard the plane's engine and it
appeared to be working normally. [The witness] viewed the plane
overhead banking hard to the left. The plane then hit a large pine tree
in his front yard, it continued into the power lines. [The witness]
heard a large boom when he plane crashed into the ground across the
street..."

During a postaccident interview with the National Transportation Safety
Board and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the pilot stated
that the maximum altitude he attained during climbout was approximately
80 feet agl and his use of 10 degrees of flaps was described as
something that he began on his own. He did not weigh the baggage that
was on the airplane and he did not perform performance calculations for
the accident flight. He added that he used 35 inches of manifold
pressure so as not to overboost the engine.

Pilot logbook entries indicate the pilot's last biennial flight review
was on April 11, 1999. FAR 61.56(c) states, "Except as provided in
paragraphs (d), (e), and (g) of this section, no person may act as
pilot in command of an aircraft unless, since the beginning of the 24th
calendar month before the month in which that pilot acts as pilot in
command, that person has - (1) Accomplished a flight review given in an
aircraft for which that pilot is rated by an authorized instructor; and
(2) A logbook endorsed from an authorized flight instructor who gave
the review certifying that the person has satisfactorily completed the
review.

The pilot received his last instrument proficiency check (IPC) was on
May 8, 2000. FAR 61.57(c) states, "Instrument experience. Except as
provided in paragraph (e) of this section, no person may act as pilot
in command under IFR or in weather conditions less than the minimums
prescribed for VFR, unless within the preceding 6 calendar months, that
person has: (1) For the purpose of obtaining instrument experience in
an aircraft (other than a glider), performed and logged under actual or
simulated instrument conditions, either in flight in the appropriate
category of aircraft for the instrument privileges sought or in a
flight simulator or flight training device that is representative of
the aircraft category for the instrument privileges sought - (i) At
least six instrument approaches; (ii) Holding procedures; and (iii)
Intercepting and tracking courses through the use of navigation
systems." There were no logbook entries regarding instrument
approaches, holding procedures or intercepting and tracking courses
through the use of navigation systems.

wrote in message
ups.com...


Exactly.

Our community looked at the statistics and decided that we or our
children
could be injured by vehicles. There were a couple of deaths over the 20
years that we have been here, and quite a few close calls. And every day
there is a kid being hit somewhere in the city.

Well, your neighbors were bad parents, and the cars didn't drop from
the
sky, and the drivers didn't screw up determining head winds and plane
balance.



Oh, some of the trouble was the outsiders, not neighbours. They would speed
through the area. Once, a drunk would hit a lamp-post or tree. They would
blare their stereos too loud. Make those loud popping noises with souped-up
exhausts, or whatever.

We just had to close down cars.

In article .com,
wet the bed and whined some mo

e was dead."

Officials with the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating
the crash. The pilot, William Helwig Jr., 62, of Downers Grove, said he
had problems immediately after leaving the small airstrip that cuts
through the private Brookeridge subdivision near Darien.

"Upon takeoff, he began having engine difficulty and he tried to circle
back and land it, but he couldn't make it," said Robert Tinucci, chief
administrator with the Darien-Woodridge Fire Protection District. "We
were happy he was able to avoid any structures."

The plane went down just before noon and crashed across the street from
Darien-Woodridge's Fire Station No. 3 at 87th Street and Lemont Road.
Firefighters ran across the street and began tending to the victims,
officials said, and were quickly aided by personnel from other
firehouses and fire departments.

Helwig, an owner of the plane, was in fair condition at Good Samaritan
Hospital in Downers Grove, while his wife Charlene, 59, was treated and
released from Hinsdale Hospital. Stephen Stack, 67, of Chicago was
treated at Hinsdale Hospital and released, while his wife Lois, 53,
remained in fair condition at Good Samaritan with back pain.

Gary Weis, who lives next to the firehouse, was picking tomatoes in his
back yard when he looked over his shoulder and saw the airplane bearing
down his house.

The plane then banked left, Weis said, and avoided hitti


Do you whine the same way when a truck hits a power pole and blacks out
the neighborhood, or do you just have a hardon for aviators?

--
Remove _'s from email address to talk to me.

We upgraded to underground lines, cha-cha. Be Gone FLYBOY MOOCHERS, off
my
property tax bill.

JG

wrote in message
ups.com...

We upgraded to underground lines, cha-cha. Be Gone FLYBOY MOOCHERS, off
my property tax bill.


Your property taxes aren't supporting the airport.

In article .net,
"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote:

wrote in message
ups.com...

We upgraded to underground lines, cha-cha. Be Gone FLYBOY MOOCHERS, off
my property tax bill.


Your property taxes aren't supporting the airport.

Years ago, in California, the California Pilots Assn. got the Division
of Aeronautics to conduct surveys to determine the economic value of the
state's GA airports.

The numbers were astounding! If we took the total and divided it by the
number of based airplanes, it came out to around $110K/based airplane --
and that was 25 years ago!

The politicians didn't like that, so they suppressed this program.

--
Remove _'s from email address to talk to me.

Orval Fairbairn wrote:
In article .net,
"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote:

wrote in message
ups.com...

We upgraded to underground lines, cha-cha. Be Gone FLYBOY MOOCHERS, off
my property tax bill.


Your property taxes aren't supporting the airport.

Then where has all the money gone over 15 years? 300 DOLLARS

The politicians didn't like that, so they suppressed this program.

What is suppressed, plenty of GA airports in CA and plenty of WRECKS
compare Fullerton to LAX.

JG


--
Remove _'s from email address to talk to me.

wrote in message
oups.com...


Orval Fairbairn wrote:
In article .net,
"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote:

wrote in message
ups.com...

We upgraded to underground lines, cha-cha. Be Gone FLYBOY MOOCHERS,
off
my property tax bill.


Your property taxes aren't supporting the airport.

Then where has all the money gone over 15 years? 300 DOLLARS

Seeing as it is Dupage County I would suspect your money has been diverted
to some politicians pet pork project.