As a very old-time flight simmer, I cut my teeth taking off -- and usually crashing into Lake Michigan -- at the old Meigs Field near the lake in Chicago. For many of the first versions of Microsoft Flight Simulator, Meigs was the default airport, and in the very earliest versions of Fight Sim, Meigs was the only airport. When FSX was released (in 2006, I believe), Meigs was no longer in the sim because the real-life Meigs Field had been bulldozed overnight by an out-of-control mayor of Chicago. Meigs no longer existed and doesn't exist today.

A couple of days ago, the in-game Microsoft Market Place began selling the Professional Edition of Meigs Field as it used to look in its glory days. I bought it today, and I've given it five stars in the store. You won't be disappointed in the details of the airport, both outside on the field and inside the hangar and terminal building and control tower. Even the soft drink vending machine is superbly modeled. The frame rate runs very smoothly as well. I noticed no drop whatever.

For me, however, the main appeal of Meigs Field is emotional. As soon as I spawned on the field, I felt 30 years younger. I almost cried. Dozens of memories I had from past decades came flooding back to mind, usually of fatal misjudgments such as my trying to land the Concorde at Meigs or trying to land any aircraft there at night in a storm. I died a million deaths at Meigs Field. The new Meigs Field package will bring back many memories for you if you used Microsoft Flight Sim in its early incarnations. The detail you see in the promotional screen captures is precisely what you get in the game. The representations are very honest.

My only word of caution is that Meigs Field will not show up on the world map, nor can "Meigs Field" be typed into the search box, until you have completely closed down the simulator after purchase and installation, and then totally restarted MSFS from scratch. Then all will be good. 

Many thanks for the heads up. 

To be honest I always think, if you do buy anything from the in-sim-market place it is always best to restart it. I might be wrong, or might not even be needed, but I think it just helps stop any surprises. 

I certainly have good memories about Meigs Field. It's been the default airport for many versions of FS. After a few years of flying from Meigs i felt like i knew Chicago, the highrise and the surroundings like the back of my hand.
Back then i read the whole crazy night action of that mayor and how foul it all was, if i remember correctly there was a lot of buzz about it on Avsim too.

 

Without notice and without legal authority, the mayor of Chicago bulldozed the runways at Meigs Field overnight (with many aircraft stranded at the airport), so that he could confiscate the land and create a park named after his wife. True story. 

And if you are OK with a freeware version, this one looks rather nice:

https://flightsim.to/file/4444/kcgx-meigs-field

Here is a video of a United 727-200 landing at Meigs Field on its way to the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry:

I visited the site of Meigs a few years ago, well after the bulldozing, and the tower structure was still there.

 

David,

Yes Meigs is really done well. Flew into the real thing many times to go to Graph Expo printing show at McCormick and sometimes when the weather was good we'd actually walk from McCormick to the field and out to our aircraft.

The ONLY thing I am disappointed with in the simulation is the approach end of 36 is not elevated above the surface of Lake Michigan. IRL it was elevated...I'm guessing 6 - 8 feet with a steel seawall barrier which was kind of intimidating on short final.

@somiller  I see that you and I have an identical CPU, an identical RAM configuration, an identical motherboard, and an identical graphics card. By any chance, did you buy your computer from JetLine Systems around 2016?

3 hours ago, David Mills said:

... I died a million deaths at Meigs Field...

Immortal words, my friend.

@David Mills Oh, I would guess you have hit a soft spot for the vast majority of flight simmers on this forum and all the other social media venues combined. As soon as you mention Meigs, it instantly triggers memories for me buying my first home PC, installing Flight Simulator 5.1 (all on a 3.5 inch floppy). Used to think it was so cool listening to the Cessna sound, taking off from Meigs and flying a thousand times through those 2 antennas on top of the John Hancock building (I think). I am also very aware of all the details leading up to the bulldozing of Meigs by the Major of Chicago.

If I lived closer to Chicago I would definitely do a real/simulated comparison video like my Niagara Falls and Toronto videos.

Thanks for the memories and heads up on this one!

 

4 hours ago, Bert Pieke said:

And if you are OK with a freeware version, this one looks rather nice:

https://flightsim.to/file/4444/kcgx-meigs-field

I had to download this freeware version just based on the unusual features. Plus it will be nice to bring back memories of Meigs from the old FS days as David Mills mentioned. I don't think I have been there in the sim in decades so it will be cool to see the change in scenery quality from long ago.

Features:
- Tower frequency: 121.3 Mhz.
- Ground Frequency: 121.8 Mhz.
- 37 Custom objects made in Blender, including several boats, historically correct buildings, and a balloon over Soldier Field that was in several version of Microsoft Flight Sim during the 1990's.
- Parking and refuelling facilities.
- BBQ facilities.
- Protesters stopping earthmoving machinery coming in to rip up the runway.
- Relationship breakup drama behind the control tower.
- All pickup trucks are badly parked.
- Worker needs to go badly but porta potty is occupied.
- Anger brewing over crash in the car park.

Edited July 3, 20214 yr by desbean

Jepp, learned on Meigs how to fly, mostly looking like this for the first year. 😉

 

But I learned it

 

I think it cost 50$ landing fee when I landed there, for the 50$ Hamburger (not included), and same amount for some 100 LL fuel. overflew Gary, Indiana. didn't know it was Michael Jackson's home underneath.

Edited July 3, 20214 yr by turbomax

10 hours ago, David Mills said:

Without notice and without legal authority, the mayor of Chicago bulldozed the runways at Meigs Field overnight (with many aircraft stranded at the airport), so that he could confiscate the land and create a park named after his wife. True story. 

Was there any legal action over this?

14 hours ago, David Mills said:

@somiller  I see that you and I have an identical CPU, an identical RAM configuration, an identical motherboard, and an identical graphics card. By any chance, did you buy your computer from JetLine Systems around 2016?

David,

I had a local computer store here in Ohio build it for me in Oct. 2016.