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Flying a 737

Tyler and I had a blast at Extreme Flight Simulation flying a 737. Tyler got the pilot chair and I took the co-pilot spot. We did a full pre-flight routine making sure everything was good to go. We then took off, did a quick fly around 5,000 feet, followed with a landing. We got to pick our airports:

  • MSP: Our home airport. I wanted to see if the terrain was familiar. The lakes and most roads were where they should be, but the buildings and downtown wasn’t very current.
  • CDG: We thought it would be fun to see the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe — which we did!
  • HHX: Tyler picked this as he knew it had a particularly difficult landing. You have to come in from a totally different heading and right at the end do about a 30° turn at 500 feet or so to land. We landed it but it wasn’t pretty.
  • LGA: Our last airport and we started in the air for this one and then landed. I wanted to land here since I’ve landed at this airport for sure over 50 times and it was very realistic. This was our best landing by a ways.

We got to finish by doing a full shut down of the 737. It was a great time.

A teenager and an adult man sit in the pilot and co-pilot seats of a Boeing 737 flight simulator cockpit, smiling at the camera. Boeing 737 flight simulator cockpit view from the runway, showing illuminated instrument panels and a straight runway ahead under cloudy skies.
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This morning we made our way to Arlington Heights and met CJ Chilvers for breakfast at Scratchboard Kitchen. I have followed CJ’s blog and newsletter for years and have a ton of respect for how he approaches his craft. It was awesome to finally meet him in person!

Auto-generated description: Two people are standing on a sidewalk outside, smiling at the camera, with trees and a few parked cars in the background.
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This Waukegan, IL Tesla Supercharger is the largest I’ve ever seen. 20 charging stations with Gen 3 capacity. ⚡️

Row of Tesla Supercharger stations with red charging cables in a sunny parking lot, backed by large white power cabinet units.
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We had a great time having our minds blown seeing Siegfried Tieber doing a guest performance at Dennis Watkins’s Magic Parlour.

Three people take a selfie at night outside The Magic Parlour by Dennis Watkins on W. Randolph St in Chicago. Gold tray with Magic Parlour admit-one tickets, a drink ticket, reserved placard labeled Thinglestad, and a glass of beer at table 1A. iPhone calculator app showing the equation 67x375+992,718 with result 1,017,843 displayed on screen
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We had an incredible dinner tonight at Perilla. The Korean styled steakhouse was amazing.

Korean BBQ table with raw beef chunks on a round grill, surrounded by small banchan dishes, lettuce wraps, and chopsticks.
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Great but short time exploring the Museum of Science and Industry upon arriving in Chicago today.

Interior of Chicago Museum of Science and Industry with steam locomotive 999, suspended aircraft including a United Airlines plane, and a yellow Citroen 2CV on the floor below. Wright Flyer replica on display at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, with inventor names inscribed along the upper wall. German U-505 submarine on display inside a large museum hall with torpedo exhibits and visitors on the floor below
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Captured the Tesla Coil at the Museum of Science and Industry at 120 fps and playing back at 1/4th speed. Super cool. ⚡️

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Ferrofluid under magnetic pull. Super cool to zoom in. Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. Captured with 5x camera on iPhone 16 Pro.

Black ferrofluid spiking into dozens of sharp glossy cones under magnetic force, photographed in extreme close-up macro detail.
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My cousin Josh’s column today, Night Riders Lament, was really good.

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North Shore Weekend Log

Friday

Saturday

Sunday