Clow (1C5)

Clow International? No, Clow (www.clowairport.com) does not have non-stop service to London. Clow International is called that because the airport's owner noticed that many of his friends were from other countries. So he added "International" to his airport's name. Is this story true? I can't be sure, but you will hear a lot of stories if you show up at Charlie's (630-771-0501 ; Open 7 a.m. - 3 p.m.) on a Saturday or Sunday morning. Big portions and a great view of the runway make Charlie's a favorite of mine. If you are alone just sit at the bar and be open to starting up a conversation.

Clow appears to be home to a great number of exotic aircraft. The grass landing strip (just West of the paved runway) is used by a number of planes in the summer. Weekends are the busiest. So take some time on Saturday or Sunday to just sit and watch the traffic.

My favorite story involves the runway orientation. As the story goes, the airport used to have an East-West runway like most other airports in the area. A chicken farmer lived next door. His chickens' egg production dropped off. So he asked the airport owner to switch to a North-South runway so the planes wouldn't fly over the chicken coup. All I know is that you should expect a cross-wind.