This looks like a place where I'd like to eat

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 06/03/2020 at 11:55 • Filed to: wingspan, Planelopnik

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Not sure of the year, but the photo was likely between 1950 and 1952 at Midway Airport in Chicago. Back in the days when flying was an adventure.

This family appears to be admiring a Chicago & Southern Air Lines DC-4. C&S got its start in 1935 flying airmail, and eventually merged with Delta Air Lines in 1953. The company called itself Delta-C&S for two years. The merger allowed Delta to operate on international C&S routes and fly one of their first international jet flights with Convair 880 service to Jamaica and Venezuela.

H/T to WilliamsSW for pointing out that C&S operated from Midway, not O’Hare as originally posted.

ranwhenparked > ttyymmnn 06/03/2020 at 12:05

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Me too, indoors and not on fire, plus the planes. What a time that was!

Textured Soy Protein > ttyymmnn 06/03/2020 at 12:06

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Then you should go to Pat O’Malley’s Jet Room on the back side of the Madison, WI airport. It’s a diner that’s part of the private aviation terminal on the opposite side of the runway from the commercial terminal. It’s also next door to the Wisconsin Air National Guard base so you get to see their planes too.

ttyymmnn > Textured Soy Protein 06/03/2020 at 12:16

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That looks fantastic. Not sure when I’ll be getting to WI any time soon, tho.

jminer > ttyymmnn 06/03/2020 at 12:27

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That would be awesome! We did have a pretty cool place here for a while, a restaurant near our main runway at Lambert the 94th aero squadron. Food was good and the view of planes coming and going was amazing. I took my future wife there a few times while we were still in high school. It was WWI aviation themed and pretty neat.

It got torn down in 2003 (along with about 1500 homes) for a runway expansion at the airport. Unfortunately though this was all planned when we were a major TWA hub with things like regular 747 service and international flights. That giant new(ish) runway sits idle most of the time now with Southwest and their 737 planes now counting for the majority of our takeoffs and landings.

jminer > jminer 06/03/2020 at 12:29

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This is the only pick I could find online of the view - seems to have mostly been lost to time.

WilliamsSW > ttyymmnn 06/03/2020 at 12:51

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I don't think there was airline service to Ohare in the early 50s?  Maybe it's Midway?

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > ttyymmnn 06/03/2020 at 12:55

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I’m sure that I mentioned it in the past, but you would have loved the old Eddie Martin terminal at KSNA. There was a restaurant that overlooked the ramp, but even better was an observation deck in front of that that looked right out onto the tarmac. It would never have survived a post-9/11 world since there wasn’t much stopping you from jumping over the rail and then off the roof right onto the ramp. Just bring some spare change for the parking meters and hang out for a few hours.

ttyymmnn > WilliamsSW 06/03/2020 at 12:55

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As I said, I was basing off the title of the photo. I couldn’t find the blog post it was associated with.

Checked Wiki, and it looks like you are correct. Thanks!

ttyymmnn > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. 06/03/2020 at 12:58

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I’ve seen many old photos of those old observation decks overlooking the gate, many of them from Europe back in the day. Closest thing to such a view now is the train at DFW that goes around outside the terminal and right over the parked aircraft. I usually book extra time through the airport just so I can ride the train around a couple of times. 

ttyymmnn > WilliamsSW 06/03/2020 at 12:59

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Edited for correctness and h/t!

Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > ttyymmnn 06/03/2020 at 13:36

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The PlaneView restaurant at Martha’s Vineyard Airport is a fav spot when I’m looking for a $100 hamburger (or omelette ) and has an unobstructed view of the parking ramp & main runway. The Crosswinds restaurant at Nantucket Airport is also a nice place to eat with outdoor seating facing the ramp. Haven’t been there in a while but it’s nice too.

WilliamsSW > ttyymmnn 06/03/2020 at 13:57

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:) :)

it all predates both of us, of course, but for a number of years, the busiest airport in the world was in Chicago- but it was Midway, not O'Hare.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > ttyymmnn 06/03/2020 at 14:04

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Don’t know if you ever have reason to be in MSP, but they have a very unusual set-up where you can actually drive UNDER the main N-S runway out to the mid-field Aircraft Viewing Area next to Fed Ex. One direction you are looking at Lindbergh Terminal and the other direction you are looking at Humphrey, and right at the intersection of the runways.

I’m not aware of any viewing area left that gets you that close to planes arriving and departing. There’s a very tall fence (and TSA cameras, I’m sure) but you can sure get close to the action.

ttyymmnn > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 06/03/2020 at 14:16

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That looks fantastic. You can get fairly close to the runway at Austin, and I usually take a step ladder to get shots above the barbed wire. Recently, though, some idiot climbed over the fence and got killed by a landing SWA 737. I hope they don’t close the viewing area because of it.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > ttyymmnn 06/03/2020 at 14:51

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one of my memories of being a yooot was watching aircraft take off from MSP, viewed from the upper level Observation Deck at what was then Wold Chamberlain Field. Apparently ( I didn’t know this back then) Wold and Chamberlain were local pilots who flew in T he Great War.

Anyway, it seemed so exotic that a 747-200 (flying as Nor thwest Orient) could fly all the way to Japan from Minneapolis.

I’m still sorta surprised DL has left the hub there, given the proximity to DTW, but I expect we’ll see them all “re-align” hub strategies coming out of this crisis.

WilliamsSW > ttyymmnn 06/03/2020 at 14:55

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Ah yes - that was one of my occasional “$100 hamburger” destinations when I was flying. Janesville was another one - as well as Oshkosh, and Schaumburg when I was feeling more like eating than flying.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > ttyymmnn 06/03/2020 at 15:03

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Reminds me of the Barnstormer in Enid, OK. I used to do contract work at a plant nearby and we’d go there for lunch. Epic tater tots and a good view of the runway. (photo from google)

ttyymmnn > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 06/03/2020 at 15:40

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Anyway, it seemed so exotic that a 747-200 (flying as Northwest Orient) could fly all the way to Japan from Minneapolis.

You know, on a certain level, this still amazes me. Say what you will about Louis CK, but this is absolutely true.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > ttyymmnn 06/03/2020 at 15:59

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Oh, he’s spot on.  But I still don’t want him anywhere near the interns or the potted plants...