The first overnight flight I did was with my wife to Chicago on Sep 2nd 2023. We took off in the Archer from Crystal, MN (KMIC) and flew down to Schaumburg, IL (06C). This was a last minute trip as we decided the night before that we didn’t have any plans for the long weekend, and weather was great for a flight. It took us 2.6 hours to reach there. At that time, I did not know that the plane was equipped with an auto pilot feature. So, this tested my ability to hand fly the plane for long distance.

Landing at Schaumburg airport was challenging for me as a new pilot. The airspace was very close to the O’Hare (KORD) airspace. Since O’Hare serves large commercial jets, I had to make sure I was not in their airspace. Fortunately, I was able to maneuver around it and land at Schaumburg uneventfully. 

When I landed there, I found out why it is so important to plan the trip more than a few hours before. At the FBO, they did not have any car rentals available due to the long weekend. If I would have called earlier, they would have made arrangements for me. 

The Schaumburg airport was really nice. The FBO staff were helpful and very courteous. The weather was almost 100 degrees and the lineman made sure I had a bottle of water as soon as I stepped out of the plane. He offered to tie down the plane while I went in to get checked in. The FBO waived landing and parking fees when I purchased 10 gallons of fuel from them. 

We took an Uber and checked into a hotel in Schaumburg. Later in the evening, we met up with friends for dinner. As it was a long weekend, a lot of friends were also visiting from out of town. It was a very memorable trip catching up with old friends and enjoying some good food.

On the way back, we took off from Schaumburg and headed straight to Crystal. On the way back, due to strong headwinds, it took us 3 hours. I had to circumvent the O’hare airspace as well as Minneapolis (MSP) airspace. This added additional time I had to circle around the Minneapolis airspace.

This trip really helped me get the confidence that I could plan and fly the plane to different cities. This involved communicating en route, maneuvering restricted airspaces, landing at unfamiliar airports, coordinating with FBO, parking overnight etc.