Midway Airport: The First Seventy-Five Years by Christopher Lynch Lake Claremont Press Phone: 773/583-7800 www.lakeclaremont.com

Astrologers get excited during those rare periods when planets converge, for when such moments occur, they are considered momentous and loaded with meaning. I am not a student of astrology, but I think I understand what they mean. For on this service road, where our car was parked, all that is special and magical about Midway converges. It is at the base of this spot, Runway 4 Right, that the runway is perfectly aligned with the skyline of Chicago. In one frame, it is all there, the geographic reason why Midway will always be an important airport for Chicago. It is as if the runway is the yellow brick road, and Chicago is the Emerald City. It sounds fanciful, but that is perhaps the best analogy for how this spot appears to the visiter. It cannot be seen from the street or the sidewalk, since the area is fenced off. It is only for those in a car at this spot that one can understand this convergence.

Everyone loves to watch Fireworks displays, and it seems that everyone "Ooohs" and "Ahhhhs" during them. This view, from 4 Right, was like Fireworks frozen into the City scape and runway lights, an explosion of brilliant blues and dazzling white, and we sat in the car, silent for a moment, as we took in the view.

A few years ago, some advertising executives, hired by Midway Airlines for a P.R. campaign wanted to look around the field for a shot that would best sum up Midway airport. I smiled as I volunteered to show them such a spot, and it was to this spot, at the base of Runway 4 Right where I brought them. Their mouths dropped open at the view, and the results of their enthusiasm, can be seen on a poster that was finally used to promote Midway Airlines. The Airline is no longer around, but that breathtaking view is.

We drove on, winding our way back to where we had started. Off runway 31 Right, with its amazing view, was once the spot of the Hale School, back in the 1920's and 30's, when no one thought it was strange to have a school by an active runway. Finally, the school board thought that the safest thing to do was move the school, which they did.

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