Still, what was a O'hare bound jet doing that low, in class E airspace,
that far out? Airline pilots, is this a common route and practice? It would
seem that staying above 10,000' until quite near the massive Ohare Class B
would be prudent!

Indulging in spitting into the wind, am I the only one who remembers one
"justification" for "the inverted wedding cakes" being extended so high, the
"promise" that ATC would route all commercial arriving (departing) traffic
into (out-of) the top of each wedding cake? I didn't believe it then, and
years of soaring in the vicinity of (first) Stapleton (and then) DIA further
disabused me of the notion there was any hint of reality in that "promise."

Today's "typical routings" of commercial traffic in the vicinity of every
"inverted wedding cake" with which I'm vaguely familiar (Denver, Dulles, LAX,
SF) might well make a reasonable person wonder why the "operational fiction"
of inverted wedding cakes still exists given "typical airline
arrival/departure routing realities." Yeah, I imagine "operational
flexibility" is a wonderful concept if you're a harried ATC person...but
darned if there aren't devils in those pesky details. Witness (say) ADSB, a
wonderful concept whose implementational details have been discussed so
patiently on this forum for years, now. Here we are, less than 3 years away
from "full USA ADSB coverage" and undoubtedly every aircraft owner, pilot and
installation tech is completely up to speed with every important aspect of
today's ADSB market offerings? (Quiz to follow...)

Bob - sigh - W.

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