Documentary - One Six Right: Loss of airports in Australia

[Guest iPilot]

I love this Docco, it's inspiring but also very disturbing in that all those airports in the US are vanishing at such a rapid rate. It was gut wrenching seeing what happened to Meigs Field and it's exactly what happened, in a similar way, to Hoxton Park.

 

I used to fly out of Hoxton Park as a kid with my grandfather and from there we used to go to The Oaks. It's one of those memories I cherish, but with the airport gone now, how long will it be before other councils and companies start selling off the local airports for real estate.

 

For those who fly out of Jandakot, it's disturbing to see that the immediate area has been sold off or leased to non-aviation businesses. Is this the start of the downfall of Jandakot airport?

 

So in saying all this, do we have a movement or organisation that is speaking up as a voice to save airfields from vanishing all over Australia? It's certainly something that I would love to become a part of if there is!

 

What do you guys think about it all?

 

 

[Guest iPilot]

Well I know we have that at jandakot, There's a new estate to the north which is huge but it's mainly been vacant for the 18 months of training I've done there. The surrounding areas are now full of commercial buildings that have nothing to do with aviation so I'm wondering how long it will be before those occupants complain about the noise as well. There has always been talk of closing Jandakot but we actually hope that it'll never happen in reality.

 

You're right, there does need to be a group to become a voice to maintain the safety of airports in Australia. I'm not sure if the EAA of the US is one of those voices over there. Anyone have any idea of that at all?

 

 

[jerrajerra]

We need a high profile individual like Dick Smith for example to lobby government even harder and bring our concerns to the people. I've listened to him on a couple of occassions on Plane Crazy Down Under but the majority of listeners are aviators so the message doesn't get throug to the wider community.

 

A program such as 4 Corners to ask the basic questions to those idiots who CHOSE to live beside an airport yet complain that there's noise, "so, you purchased a block of land beside RWY 36, yet you claim you weren't aware it was a runway for airplanes...?".

 

What about RFDS? If they get anouther season of programmes out I reckon they should incorporate something about how VITAL our airstrips are.

 

Anyone listen to Macca on Sundays, ABC ? Let's ring him next time there's an airshow or fly-in. Invite him and his crew to yours.

 

I'm a facebook friend of Bernie Finn (Vic Stat Govt) but only 'cause he is a friend also of 'Save Essendon Airport' facebook page. So perhaps he is someone also we could canvass.

 

A while ago I emailed Clambacks & Hennessey at Bankstown enquiring as to how their fight to survive was going and received the following from Amminta:

 

"Well Chris - thank you for your concern! – it is a huge and long story. We ground them to a standstill over a period of 18 months and finally the court date was for Monday July 19. Then on the Friday 16 July at about 0930 our solicitor called us and said, they, Bankstown Airport had written a letter proposing conditions for a compromise but that our solicitor and their solicitors could not agree on anything between 0900 – 0930 and that the best thing to do would be for us to ring the NEW boss and ask for a meeting to see what he had to say.

 

 

So we did – he came over at 1200 and by 1400 we had hammered out a compromise which was what we wanted 18 months before! So after many thousands of dollars on both sides sanity prevailed and an agreement was reached and approved in the court on Wednesday 21 July and stamped by the Judge.

 

 

It was sad in that the battle was not fought in the court as it had ramifications everywhere but the fact remains is that our costs were by then around $150,000 (which had been helped by donations from individuals within the industry and much work by many people) but if it had gone through to an appeal it would have cost another $350,000 which would have sent us onto skid row literally. Justice is for the wealthy only! – BAL’s costs overall to that date were around $390,000 we were lead to believe. They threw everything at us to try and psyche us out and never went anywhere as far as we could make out without 2 solicitors a Senior QC and Middle QC and a Junior QC. Needless to say their lawyers told our lawyer that there was no one at Bankstown Airport on that Friday morning who could make any decisions. So I just picked up the phone and rang and the guy who answered in person. So that is how much their representatives wanted to fix the problem – it was for them a gravy train it seems. To raise the further amount had it gone on to appeal - would have been nearly impossible.

 

 

So now we have a new lease.

 

 

There are many ramifications that the Government should be held account for and this one I only learned about last week in that apparently there is no freehold land in the ACT. (This at the moment is hearsay). However the Government has never intended that they would resume the houses! – This has only just come to my notice this week by some people fighting in Perth who rang me. That is exactly the case as at all the Government airports (no freehold land) – they were to roll over the leases whilst ever the people who built the hangar wanted to keep going, but that ultimately (this is the slight difference between the airport people and ACT people) would ultimately gain our hangars – that was writ in our leases.

 

 

So there we are – more cans of worms opened up if anyone wishes to follow it.

 

 

The www.aviationadvertiser.com.au were just such an enormous help through out the campaign – and they were the first on the spot in the form of Ben Morgan their proprietor. The NORMAL papers would not touch it with a barge pole because of advertising revenue and other perceived problems – so much for the press. So much for Greed.

 

 

Bankstown is now a former shadow of itself, with a huge number of airplanes gone to greener pastures and out of 19 fixed wing training schools of 10 years ago there are 5 left and those five are finding it tough! We are one of them.

 

 

Again thanks for your interest."

 

The problem is, I think, that we need to be a collective group and do this en mass.

 

Chris

 

 

[turboplanner]

I did try to get some momentum going a couple of years ago with political contacts, but the lack of interest was embarrassing, so I dropped it.

 

Of course that hasn't stopped people getting on here and scream when it's all too late.

 

 

[Guest iPilot]

I did try to get some momentum going a couple of years ago with political contacts, but the lack of interest was embarrassing, so I dropped it.Of course that hasn't stopped people getting on here and scream when it's all too late.

I remember that mate and I was all for it, but you can't let that get you down, gotta keep getting it up and running, let it snowball some more and get some national interest from all walks of aviation life.

Never give up right?

 

 

[turboplanner]

Got involved in other voluntary things since the so someone else might like to have a go at it

 

 

[Mazda]

We can all help by flying neighbourly and educating people. The general public don't get it.

 

There are "flight paths" which go to either end of the runway. If they buy a house mid downwind, that is nowhere near the "flight path" but planes keep flying over the house, over and over, one every couple of minutes, one following the other really close and there isn't even a control tower, why don't they just land? Or why don't they go flying somewhere else? Sometimes they even switch off the engine, and just when it is about to crash they turn it back on again. Then there are those stunt pilots doing loop the loops, very dangerous, like ute hoons doing donuts in the sky, sometimes they point straight down with the engine off, surely there must be a law against that. If they have to fly round and round like that, why do they have to get so low before they land? Sometimes I can nearly touch the wheels, and there must be fumes in the exhaust, it gets all over my washing. Why don't they fly further away instead of right over the houses? It might have been OK when this was all farmland, but now it is residential houses and they need to go somewhere else, that land could be used for housing, sporting fields or even a hospital.

 

So do your best to avoid deliberately flying over areas that are noise sensitive, and tell people about flying. Tell them that the Qantas pilots who saved the A380 were once trainee pilots in a little airfield somewhere, and the pilots at the little airfield might save their lives one day. If we don't train pilots, we will have to import pilots trained in India and China, like doctors.

 

Tell them the circuit has road rules in the air, it is a safe way to use the same runway, and glide approaches or simulated EFATO is like taking your foot of the accelerator in the car, not switching it off.

 

Tell them those pilots hooning in the sky are not hooning at all, they are working up a gymnastic routine in the sky, training for a national competition, or even a world championships, representing Australia. How lucky are they to be able to see that.

 

Tell them the Aviation White Paper is Government policy saying that airports should be airports, and non-aviation developments near airports are to be discouraged.

 

Tell them about people who pay extra to live in an airpark right near the runway, wealthy people like John Travolta choose to live there.

 

Why? Because there is something magical about flight, and maybe you could even take them up for a fly to show them.

 

 

[eightyknots]

I love this Docco, it's inspiring but also very disturbing in that all those airports in the US are vanishing at such a rapid rate. It was gut wrenching seeing what happened to Meigs Field and it's exactly what happened, in a similar way, to Hoxton Park.I used to fly out of Hoxton Park as a kid with my grandfather and from there we used to go to The Oaks. It's one of those memories I cherish, but with the airport gone now, how long will it be before other councils and companies start selling off the local airports for real estate.

That was in the south-west, iPilot. Then, there was the loss of Schofields Aerodrome in Sydney's north-west, where I lived for many years.

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

"

 

Tell them that the Qantas pilots who saved the A380 were once trainee pilots in a little airfield somewhere, and the pilots at the little airfield might save their lives one day. If we don't train pilots, we will have to import pilots trained in India and China, like doctors."

A great idea, Mazda.

[Ultralights]

this is what YHOX looked like less than 24 hrs after the last aircraft departed. and yes, the runway WAS heritage listed...

 

 

 

[eightyknots]

this is what YHOX looked like less than 24 hrs after the last aircraft departed. and yes, the runway WAS heritage listed...

It's a real tragedy. I didn't know such a picture existed. Thanks for sharing U/L

 

 

[jerrajerra]

Disgusting! But hey, the Council will soon profit from any housing development and you should be seeing a new airfield being built neraby to replace the one they stole. New facilties, new tarmac, maybe an airside watering hole.

 

 

[rgmwa]

For those who fly out of Jandakot, it's disturbing to see that the immediate area has been sold off or leased to non-aviation businesses. Is this the start of the downfall of Jandakot airport?

There was talk a couple of years ago about relocating Jandakot, but I think that's less likely now. The RFDS and police and emergency services need to operate from a reasonably central location, and flying schools and other aviation related businesses and private aircraft owners would also be badly disadvantaged by being relocated well outside Perth. No doubt their leasing costs will increase as the industrial estate fills up and land values rise, but Jandakot's location is no worse than Moorabbin, for example.

 

rgmwa

 

 

[winsor68]

Airfields are the most important Main Road in any community... Nobody gives them much thought, except to maybe complain about the noise... but when the sxxt hits the fan, such as during the recent floods, they are vital. Councils all over Australia are ripping up airfields and building housing developments... and they aren't replacing the airfields... It needs to stop!

 

 

I just posted the above on Facebook... Perhaps we could make a link here with a well written "blurb" to spread this message through various electronic means i.e. E-mail, Facebook, Twitter etc etc Something that can be taken and used in various ways to spread the word without too much efffort?

 

 

[youngster]

I called the State Transport Minister's office a few months back to enquire as to whether the NSW Government has a strategy of some sort in relation to maintaining and retaining airfields around the state. The advisor I spoke to had no idea what I was talking about and kept telling me aviation was a federal responsibility. Maybe I should have been talking to the Minister for Lands, but surely there should be some long-term and co-operative strategy to retain, maintain, improve, and better utilise the airfields around the State.

 

 

[jerrajerra]

AOPA fully supports Save Our Secondary Airports: http://aacci.org.au/index.php/news-articles/74-aopa-fully-supports-save-our-secondary-airports

 

Here is a piece taken from the Archerfield Chamber of Commerce website, President AOPA:

 

“Just a few years ago, naming Bankstown Airport as an example, GA was thriving – the airport was rated the busiest in the southern hemisphere.” says AOPA President Col Rodgers “In those days you’d be hard pressed to find a parking spot for your aircraft once you landed. Photographs from those days show at least 250-300 aircraft parked on the airport. These days you could walk around with your eyes shut and probably not run into an aircraft!”

 

“AOPA believes that a once viable training airport has been downgraded in favour of property development,” said Rodgers. “Management at Bankstown also want heavy freight, I wonder what local residents will say when the quiet hum of small training aircraft is replaced by heavy four-engined aircraft, even jets, operating around the clock!!”

 

“The costs imposed by airport management make basing an aircraft at Bankstown unviable. This is not just a loss of aircraft to flying schools; it is a loss of revenue for the refuellers, the maintainers and even Airservices Australia because aircraft have been lost to Bankstown. The facilities at the airport also have a major influence on servicing and maintenance of aircraft used by Aerial Ambulance, Royal Flying Doctor, Police, Emergency services and other public entities. This impacts on local jobs and apprenticeship opportunities as well as businesses in and around the airport. There are hundreds more aircraft missing from here, I wonder where they have gone??”

 

“Airport management cannot deny our information that puts the decline in aviation fuel sales at Bankstown over the last four years at an average of 50%” said Rodgers. AOPA is deeply concerned at the impact of a failed Government policy, that of handing the management of airports to private operators. AOPA does not believe these operators have the interests of aviation or the local community at heart and see the airport simply as land to be developed. Airports are affected across Australia; Jandakot, Archerfield, Moorabbin, Camden and Bankstown are just the beginning. All Australian airports are potentially at risk; property developers see only dollars, not national assets.

 

AOPA is calling on Minister Truss to intervene and set stringent rules for rent increases, land reuse and runway closures. “We only want to see runway closures happen with the full agreement of local operators at any airports, the loss of the North-South runway at Bankstown was much more than a land grab, it is simply dangerous and may result in a loss of life,” said Rodgers. “It also significantly detracts from the use of Bankstown as a training airport.”

 

“We don’t think DoTARS looked at the issues properly when the program was first developed and we have had advice to that effect from Government sources in the past. What we want now is a stop to airport destruction and a rewriting of the rules by which they are governed.” “The Government has called for an action agenda, well this is the first item’ said Rodgers. “This needs fixing now or Australia will be denied the benefits of a thriving aviation sector. Look around Sydney and count the number of golf courses, racecourses, parks, nature reserves and playing fields, then count the number of GA airfields – only three, and one (Hoxton Park) is closing in 2008.”

 

The Bankstown Airport situation clearly illustrates the lack of a national cohesive Aviation Infrastructure policy at both Federal and State levels. General Aviation is a core part of a major industry that has immense community benefit, and should not be left at the mercy of short-term financial gain. The prominent aviatrix, Nancy Bird Walton, is also concerned at the apparent attack on general aviation, and is prepared to lend her support to any action that will foster and promote general aviation.

 

We feel it is now time for people to stand up and be counted in regard to preservation of our national assets.

 

For More Information

 

Col Rodgers

 

President

 

[email protected] [email protected]"

 

A common theme in all this...no blody mainstream media or political will. Who gives a shite attitude.

 

 

[turboplanner]

I called the State Transport Minister's office a few months back to enquire as to whether the NSW Government has a strategy of some sort in relation to maintaining and retaining airfields around the state. The advisor I spoke to had no idea what I was talking about and kept telling me aviation was a federal responsibility. Maybe I should have been talking to the Minister for Lands, but surely there should be some long-term and co-operative strategy to retain, maintain, improve, and better utilise the airfields around the State.

It is a Federal responsibility in terms of regulations, but you've touched on a very good point. Try again with the Minister for Local Government - He/she has resposibility for Councils, and arguably should be concerned that a network used for communications, transport and emergencies, is being sold off town by town by Councils getting tolo close to developers.

 

 

[Guest iPilot]

Here's something that was released this week about Van Nuys Airport where One Six Right was filmed

 

http://shermanoaks.patch.com/articles/complaints-of-helicopter-noise-whipping-up-action

 

 

[jerrajerra]

Here's something that was released this week about Van Nuys Airport where One Six Right was filmedhttp://shermanoaks.patch.com/articles/complaints-of-helicopter-noise-whipping-up-action

"There is no way to relax from these helicopter noises. One of these days one will fall inside a neighborhood full of houses and kill residents. Then, someone will take some action....but it'll be too ate. They fly so low and close to the houses that one would think we are being bombed....It's absolutely outrageous."

 

That's bloody outrages! This bloke probably wants to prohibit the use of sirens after hours being used by emergency vehicles too. Too loud, too bright, too fast.

 

 

[Guest iPilot]

The possibility of this happening here in Australia is so very real. It just scares me that people are allowed to do this.

 

 

[Guernsey]

I believe I am quite well known on this forum for having a sense of humour when commenting on various posts...just can't help myself,

 

but when I saw the photo of that crushed up runway it almost brought tears to my eyes. It is so sensless and they call it 'progress'.

 

For once I am stuck for words.

 

Alan Marriette. (no smilies on this one).

 

 

[eightyknots]

I believe I am quite well known on this forum for having a sense of humour when commenting on various posts...just can't help myself,but when I saw the photo of that crushed up runway it almost brought tears to my eyes. It is so sensless and they call it 'progress'.

For once I am stuck for words.

 

Alan Marriette. (no smilies on this one).

I agree Alan. The real question is, how do you stop this aerodrome destruction from happening again somewhere else?

 

Why did the Heritage Listing not prevent this airfield from being destroyed?

 

this is what YHOX looked like less than 24 hrs after the last aircraft departed. and yes, the runway WAS heritage listed...