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<h1 style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:.3pt;
margin-left:0in'><b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"'>Pilots
see Daley's exit as hope for revived Meigs Field<o:p></o:p></span></b></h1>
<p class=MsoNormalCxSpFirst style='margin-bottom:.3pt'><span class=byline><span
style='font-size:6.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>September 9, 2010 2:17
PM </span></span><span class=separator><span style='font-size:6.5pt;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif"'>|</span></span><span style='font-size:6.5pt;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormalCxSpMiddle style='margin-bottom:.3pt'><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>With Mayor Richard Daley set to leave
office, it's time to bring back Meigs Field, according to private pilots who
still bemoan the shutdown of the lakefront airport seven years ago. <br>
<br>
General aviation pilots from across the country suggest that the changing
political climate in the <a
href="http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/neighborhoods.html?region=1435491"><span
style='color:#1D56CB'>Chicago</span></a> will not only lead to a new mayor, but
also possibly a new Meigs.<br>
<br>
"From what we're hearing and seeing, the aviation blogs and Twitter are
alive with conversations about whether Mayor Daley's departure may create an
opportunity to rebuild Meigs Field," said Chris Dancy, spokesman for the
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormalCxSpMiddle style='margin-bottom:.3pt'><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>In a secretive operation that has
become known as the midnight raid on Meigs, Daley sent demolition crews to the
airport on Northerly Island in the wee hours of March 30, 2003. <br>
<br>
Large X's were carved into Meigs' single runway to prevent takeoffs or landings.
A number of planes were stranded on the tiny airfield.<br>
<br>
After the bulldozers left and the sun rose, Daley said the move was necessary
to safeguard the airport from being used as a potential launch pad for
terrorists attacking the downtown with an explosives-laden small plane.<br>
<br>
Federal homeland security officials and the Federal Aviation Administration
quickly dismissed the mayor's concerns as a gross over-reaction, saying a plane
of the size able to use the airfield couldn't pack enough explosives to do much
damage to buildings in the <a
href="http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/neighborhoods.html?region=29734"><span
style='color:#1D56CB'>Loop</span></a>. <br>
<br>
But Daley shot back that federal officials were out of touch, more concerned
with ordering no-fly zones over Disneyland and other venues after the 9/11
attacks than on protecting America's major cities.<br>
<br>
The FAA ultimately fined <a
href="http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/neighborhoods.html?region=1435491"><span
style='color:#1D56CB'>Chicago</span></a> for shutting down Meigs without
providing the required notice.<br>
<br>
However, city officials were already transforming Northerly Island into a
concert venue and nature sanctuary.<br>
<br>
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association said today that Daley "stole
(Meigs) from America's national aviation transportation system."<br>
<br>
The airport was a favorite among private pilots and business people who could
land their planes near downtown and be at meetings in the <a
href="http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/neighborhoods.html?region=29734"><span
style='color:#1D56CB'>Loop</span></a> within minutes.<br>
<br>
"More than seven years have passed since <a
href="http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/neighborhoods.html?region=1435491"><span
style='color:#1D56CB'>Chicago</span></a>'s Meigs Field was bulldozed under
cover of darkness, but the airport has not been forgotten," said Craig
Fuller, president and CEO of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.<br>
<br>
"Grassroots support for Meigs is still alive, and many in the aviation
community view Mayor Daley's decision not to run for re-election as a hopeful
sign that the field could be restored," Fuller said.<br>
<br>
The local group Friends of Meigs is still active campaigning for the airport's
reconstruction.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormalCxSpMiddle style='margin-bottom:.3pt'><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Berlin Sans FB","sans-serif";color:#531E1D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormalCxSpMiddle style='margin-bottom:.3pt'><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Berlin Sans FB","sans-serif";color:#531E1D'>……………………………….<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormalCxSpMiddle style='margin-bottom:.3pt'><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Berlin Sans FB","sans-serif";color:#531E1D'>Yikes<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormalCxSpMiddle style='margin-bottom:.3pt'><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Berlin Sans FB","sans-serif";color:#531E1D'>Randi Doeker<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormalCxSpLast style='margin-bottom:.3pt'><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#0F243E'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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