Cleared into Bravo (Chicago)!

[nyoung]

Flying home from Peoria to Lake in the Hills tonight (PIA - 3CK) and got a transition through the new part of the Bravo. I was descending through ~8000 and was about 5 miles from the new Bravo airspace (which almost extends to DeKalb) when I decided to call and ask for a transition.... Chicago approach approved. Very nice, especially at night - when I prefer to fly high to increase glide range.

It would be great if approach continued to treat the new Bravo airspace like this ! Awesome.

 

[ScottM]

I'll keep my fingers crossed.

 

[gprellwitz]

Great! I've been cleared through in the past while VFR, though generally after about 10 or 11PM. I know Kent's had at least one transition too, though I don't remember if it was IFR or VFR. Suffice it to say that it's an uncommon enough occurrence to still be noteworthy.

 

[HPNPilot1200]

I was cleared through the Chicago Bravo twice last year. It seemed like it was a pretty easy task at the time but maybe not depending on what you hear from other local area pilots.

 

[jsstevens]

[snip] Very nice, especially at night - when I prefer to fly high to increase glide range.[snip]

Why do you expect to increase glide range at night? The only things I can think of are calmer winds and cooler temperatures (i.e. denser air). I'm not being picky, I just want to learn.

John

 

[JeffDG]

Why do you expect to increase glide range at night? The only things I can think of are calmer winds and cooler temperatures (i.e. denser air). I'm not being picky, I just want to learn.

John

The higher your altitude the longer the glide range.

Having additional glide at night just adds more options in the event the fan quits. It's not that night gives you more range, it's that you want to have more at night.

 

[nyoung]

Maybe not the best wording in my post... Let me try again... When I fly at night, I try to fly at higher altitudes (8-10k AGL) so that I can glide 10+ miles. In Illinois, this will almost always keep me in glide range of an airport.

In contrast, during the day - I am not as concerned about glide range... In the Midwest, there are always plenty of suitable alternative landing places nearby (when you can see them).

Back to my original post... The new Chicago Bravo pushes us down to just over 3000 AGL, which in my Cherokee would probably result in a ~4-5nm glide. There are a lot of airports in the Chicago area, but the 3000AGL restriction substantially increases the amount of time I am outside glide range of an airport.

Why do you expect to increase glide range at night? The only things I can think of are calmer winds and cooler temperatures (i.e. denser air). I'm not being picky, I just want to learn.

John

 

[jsstevens]

OK, I misunderstood and was confused. I thought I might learn a useful tidbit.

Flying higher at night to have more options makes sense.

John

 

[gprellwitz]

I was cleared through the Chicago Bravo twice last year. It seemed like it was a pretty easy task at the time but maybe not depending on what you hear from other local area pilots.

It's also possible that they have changed their practices and that we locals don't know it because we gave up trying long ago. Not too likely, though.

 

[Dave Siciliano]

I think they just have your number Grant! Where should I sent your aluminum hat <g>

Best,

Dave

 

[flyingcheesehead]

I decided to call and ask for a transition.... Chicago approach approved. Very nice, especially at night

... which is probably why they gave it to you in the first place.

Great! I've been cleared through in the past while VFR, though generally after about 10 or 11PM. I know Kent's had at least one transition too, though I don't remember if it was IFR or VFR.

One of each - Both on a Sunday night:

* IFR was on the way back from the FlyBQ in '07 in the 182 - Despite filing KELSI, I was right at the edge of C90's airspace (at 6000 feet) so when I did the "ask Center for direct when able" routine, they just handed me off to Approach. The Approach controller couldn't find KELSI in his computer, so he just gave me direct MSN. (FAA old technology WIN! )

* VFR was on the way back from AOPA Expo in Hartford in '07. I was flying Mike's Cherokee 235 back to C81, and was planning on the lakeshore if I couldn't get the transition. I called a few miles before I would have needed to descend (VPZ area, 6500 feet), and after initially not hearing back, they cleared me in just as I had given up and started to descend.

 

[Jim Burns]

Back in 1991(?) I was returning to WI from South Bend IN and filed to Chicago Heights then up the western edge of the TCA... (yikes, I still remember those) and Approach cleared me directly over ORD. I think I was at 10,500 msl. The controller called me, asked me to look down and said "you're directly over the busiest airport in the world, take a good look, you might not get the chance at that view ever again"

and I haven't.... now I view KELSI.... she's not nearly as sexy.