An Active Day at the Lake in the Hills Airport

Hello again everyone. I decided that instead of talking about why to come and what is going on here at the airport, I would like to just give some great locations to come see while at the airport.

Before I begin though, I wanted to go over a bit of a background on the airport. I’ve said numerous times, I have lived here in Lake in the Hills, for quite some time and never really thought of the airport as a great hangout place. I was extremely wrong in thinking that. I am not an aviation nut by any means; in fact, I am more of a sports and video game nut. There is a lot of rich history here at the airport and every person here has a story of why this airport is so great. I am hoping by the end of this blog, a few people who have never been may think of it as an interesting place to visit and spend an afternoon here.

The first piece of information I would like to point out is the airport’s call letters. Everyone knows that O’Hare is ORD. Lake in the Hills Airport is 3CK. Some additional information on the airport I would like you to know about is some of amazing facts and also just a few of the nice people that are here.

Lake in the Hills Airport is approved to have some of O’Hare’s landings take place here in an emergency situation. Additionally, according to the Lake in the Hills Village Website, the Airport generates about $19 million in total economic impact. That is quite impressive for a small piece of land.

The airport is at a perfect location in the town. From the end of the run way, we can see the amazing new flag that was put up in Crystal Lake. When it first went up, it was such a patriotic feeling to see this huge flag being raised up on the huge flag pole. I know that the pole is a cell phone tower, but that is one of the greatest sights in the area. From our view you can see the flag over these great green trees and then the airport.

If you are looking to just watch aircraft all day take off and land, at the end of the runway is the Windsock Executive Building. It is the green roofed building with the great big orange windsock. Within the building is Blue Skies (training and flight store), Allstate Insurance (where I work), Aero Insurance, Thrivent Financial Services, Corporate Risks Services, and Merlak Tax Services. Outside of that building there are a few picnic tables and benches so that you can relax and watch the planes. If you come out to the airport and are interested in a tour around, please stop in to see me and I would be happy to walk you around the airport and show off some of the amazing sights. There is also a bike rack in case you ride your bike down the bike trail.

Next to the Windsock building is Finefield Aviation. These are some of the friendliest people and smartest at the airport. The company is family owned and has been passed down through the family. The guys/gals that work in here are extremely friendly and will always help out no matter the situation.

The best view of the airport is sitting right here at the base. The planes are not too loud at all, unless one of the corporate jets takes off. Occasionally, we will get greeted by different helicopters as well. This morning, a flight for life helicopter came in. For the past few weeks, we have seen a spraying helicopter taking care of Gypsy Moths. Every few weeks we will also have a military helicopter fly over and do a few maneuvers. There are tons of sights here at the airport.

As a final note, I wanted to just briefly mention the incident that took place Saturday here. There was a minor plane crash. It wasn’t like what most people thought though, it was a plane that was landing and went off the runway. There were no injuries, and I was not here first hand to see any of it, so I have no details, nor do I want to even get into any. What I want to mention is that most people think flying is unsafe. We all see the headlines that say plane crashed so many injured, etc. I can say first hand, that it is more dangerous to drive on Pyott, Randall, and Algonquin roads than it is to fly here at Lake in the Hills Airport. In the past 6 months, I have seen 2 major accidents (one being fatal) on Pyott Rd. As an insurance representative, there have been several accidents at Pyott and Oak and Pyott and Willow. I just want to ask everyone in Lake in the Hills, to not hold a bias against flying because of safety concerns. Many of the pilots here have been flying most of their lives. These guys know what they are doing and are great at doing it.

Have a great weekend everyone.