Jim Carson

I was on a cross-country trip from Seattle to Chicago. Starting somewhere east of Twin Falls, the late morning air heated enough to make the ride extremely turbulent. Though I went all the way up to 17.5 (with oxygen), I was still getting the snot shaken out of me and needed a break. Rawlins was the closest airfield.

After refueling and taking my good old time, I tried taking off eastbound. Density altitude was over 10,000 (the airport itself is at 6813 ft.). Even with the turbo, I was having problems getting more than 200’ fpm climb while maintaining adequate cooling. I turned around and parked, figuring on spending the night. THe fixed base operator lent me their Chevy Suburban and gave some pointers on local eateries and cowboy poetry readings that were going on that night. I had a great time, and very much appreciate the western hospitality.

DuPage was a great stopping point for my cross-country trip, and is about as close to the Chicago area as you’ll get in a single engine, private aircraft. I had some minor maintenance done while I visited family. The Flight Center is extremely comfortable, with showers, a weather station and even a TV playing movies (which was useful as I waited … and waited … for a friend to arrive).

They have a few outlets sprinkled around the concourse – plus Southwest has these laptop tables with several outlets. No free wireless, though you can access the T-mobile hotspot via Boingo ($7.95/month versus T-Mobile’s $9.95/month)

There were huge lines for food (Dunkin’ Donuts, TGI Fridays). Very, very busy today.