Anywhere too hanger a plane in Emerald area ?

[Doug Evans]

Just requiring are there any hanger to rent or park my lightwing if i was to work in the area ?

 

thinking of flying back and fort to work if i score a job in the area .

 

 

[dazza 38]

I have a few hangers at home.

 

 

[FlyingVizsla]

Emerald Council has some for rent - fees are on page 3 http://www.centralhighlands.qld.gov.au/web/guest/fee-s-and-charges

 

I don't know if any are vacant. To avoid the landing fees and security (you need an ASIC) people I know have made arrangements with the local Ag companies to leave planes on their strips. There are a few around - like Calibreair, not far out of town. With the down turn in the mining industry you may find some hangar vacancies; certainly there are about 1,000 houses for sale and about 600 for rent with offers of months free if rented for a period. The parking at the airport has been an on-going saga - at $10/day there are plenty cars parked in the streets around the airport (it is a few km out of town) and Council has been putting up signs to ban overnight parking trying to force people back to paid parking. Work isn't as well paid or stable as it used to be.

 

 

 

Good luck Doug.

 

 

[ben87r]

I have a few hangers at home.

Me and a mate rocked up to hand out our resumes when green to a nameless charter/scenic company, we sat with the CP for about 10 min. All seemed to be going ok, then the accountant came out, he was the CP there a 100 years ago he then asks us how to spell hangar, before I could stop my mate comes out with h a n g e r.. We were "escorted" out of there pretty quickly whilst having the accountants opinions of our piloting skills barked at us. Believe it or not we never got the job!

 

 

[biggles]

I have a few hangers at home.

Ooooh . Very subtle dazz . Bob

 

 

[dazza 38]

Me and a mate rocked up to hand out our resumes when green to a nameless charter/scenic company, we sat with the CP for about 10 min. All seemed to be going ok, then the accountant came out, he was the CP there a 100 years ago he then asks us how to spell hangar, before I could stop my mate comes out with h a n g e r.. We were "escorted" out of there pretty quickly whilst having the accountants opinions of our piloting skills barked at us. Believe it or not we never got the job!

Ouch, that was a bit over the top. But it would have to be the most misspelt word in aviation. I guess he was thinking that if you guys ( well your friend) couldn't get that right, well on ya bike.lol

Well not really missspelt, but more like using the wrong word. Peeps spelling gauge as guage would be the 2 nd biggest.

 

 

[dazza 38]

Ooooh . Very subtle dazz . Bob

Just mucking around, probably half the population spell it as hanger.

 

 

[ben87r]

That's what he would hit the ginger beers with most likely....

 

 

[Doug Evans]

sorry guys just a bushie but ya got the idea hey ........anyway some hang there planes in them ,dose that count ....

 

 

[biggles]

sorry guys just a bushie but ya got the idea hey ........anyway some hang there planes in them ,dose that count ....

Your OK Doug !

 

 

[dazza 38]

Your OK Doug !

Yep like Bob has said, it's all good, just a bit if good old Aussie banter.

 

 

[frank marriott]

Doug

 

I have a mate who is a LAME at Emerald, if you want ring me and I can put you onto him - he will know what is available at Emerald airport. The security at Emerald is over the top, I wouldn't recommend going there without a current ASIC - even with an ASIC they will not give you the gate code without going to the office to sign some agreement - I told them to go and play in the traffic.

 

During daytime hours you ring security and 2 "important people" will let you in after inspecting your ASIC card, but will not give you the gate code OR run into another pilot who will give it to you. The trouble is that they change it more regularly then Townsville, which is class C, so I guess it keeps the "important people" in a job.

 

A lot of terrorist activity there apparently!

 

I go there about 4 or 5 times a year and every time the gate code has been changed.

 

As Sue says, parking is another anti social situation.

 

 

[dazza 38]

DougI have a mate who is a LAME at Emerald, if you want ring me and I can put you onto him - he will know what is available at Emerald airport. The security at Emerald is over the top, I wouldn't recommend going there without a current ASIC - even with an ASIC they will not give you the gate code without going to the office to sign some agreement - I told them to go and play in the traffic.

During daytime hours you ring security and 2 "important people" will let you in after inspecting your ASIC card, but will not give you the gate code OR run into another pilot who will give it to you. The trouble is that they change it more regularly then Townsville, which is class C, so I guess it keeps the "important people" in a job.

 

A lot of terrorist activity there apparently!

 

I go there about 4 or 5 times a year and every time the gate code has been changed.

 

As Sue says, parking is another anti social situation.

This ASIC is becoming a real problem, mainly because to exercise the privilege of using a RPL/PPL/CPL/ATPL pilots must ( supposed to) to have a ASIC. Luckily RAA pilots don't have that requirement. It is just another expense that isn't needed as it doesn't help terrorism at all.

Ps- Frank all ready knows this, just putting this out there for peeps who may not know.

 

 

[Jabiru7252]

Pathetic as it is I hate the way people use hanger instead of hangar. I will admit, I am a spelling/grammar nazi.

 

 

[FlyingVizsla]

Yeah Emerald! There are more "security" people wandering around there than in Brisbane. They stand around the car park, the footpath outside the terminal, wander around the place - so many florescent yellow vests. So much fuss about the gate code. It was required to both enter and leave airside, and if you were running late (it changed after hours), they could not give it to you - you had to apply in writing giving 24 hrs notice on a business day. Pilots soon worked out how to get out through the hangars.

 

 

 

Vehicles couldn't go airside without a lot of fuss, so to get Avgas in 44 Gal drums the trucks would pull up on the other side of the cyclone wire fence and the hose would be passed through the fence. Incidentally, the refueller at Emerald was one of only 2(?) certified in Aust to refill 44 Gal drums. The hose going through the fence was then deemed to be a security breach and the practice was stopped. The airport terminal was extended but not the car park which was running out of space, hence the rental cars being moved from their paid spots to a gravel area far from the terminal where thieves regularly stripped wheels, but still not enough room for all the patrons. Harvey Norman became the defacto airport long term car park. The industrial area was a sea of cars. When the car park was converted to boom gates, the price per car was to be $25/day with rental companies paying $5,000 per park. Fortunately the Councillors thought that a bit steep and one successfully lobbied for waiving the parking fee for people flying out for medical treatment on the Patient Transit Scheme as they often came from rural areas, needed to drive, and didn't know when they would be back.

 

 

 

The taxi fare is over $25 (that's what I paid for my part of a shared trip to town). I regularly picked up and delivered employees to flights to save the company taxi, parking and other fees. There are also Council staff wandering around too - keeping an eye on things that were not "security". We really appreciate the quiet serenity of Springsure - only wish they would give us permission to build a hangar with out also requesting us to build half an airport. Husband's first application elicited a request for $67,000 in addition to other works, for a lease to build an ultralight hangar which would revert to their ownership in 20 years and cost approx $800 per annum in rates. Another applicant was requested to connect water, sewer, power and build a 500m sealed taxiway, drainage works and there were 10 pages in the agreement going through liquor licensing. He just wanted a roof over his plane.

 

 

 

Rant over. I feel better already.

 

 

[biggles]

G*d , what a nightmare . Things very different at YBNS . Bairnsdale council even lease out one of the old WW2 hangars (

 

hope I've got that correct dazz !

 

) fully enclosed , to local Aero club for a peppercorn rent . But have to say that I do pay around $800 a year for my hangar land lease . ...... Bob

 

 

[Mick]

All this stuff about Emerald sounds so much like Gladstone. All the comments about the gate code, Gladstone has no codes, only way in is to be let in by AROs. Been working on getting the ok to build a hangar for 4 years, still can't get anything usable or on reasonable terms. The land originally allocated for hangars has been turned into a rental car parking lot.

 

Re the hanger v hangar thing, when I had a website address that contained the word hangar usually every couple of days I would get a phone call saying "your website is down", I would ask "are you spelling hangar with an a r or e r?" The answer would inevitably be e r. Amazing how my website worked when people spelt it properly.

 

 

[Doug Evans]

DougI have a mate who is a LAME at Emerald, if you want ring me and I can put you onto him - he will know what is available at Emerald airport. The security at Emerald is over the top, I wouldn't recommend going there without a current ASIC - even with an ASIC they will not give you the gate code without going to the office to sign some agreement - I told them to go and play in the traffic.

During daytime hours you ring security and 2 "important people" will let you in after inspecting your ASIC card, but will not give you the gate code OR run into another pilot who will give it to you. The trouble is that they change it more regularly then Townsville, which is class C, so I guess it keeps the "important people" in a job.

 

A lot of terrorist activity there apparently!

 

I go there about 4 or 5 times a year and every time the gate code has been changed.

 

As Sue says, parking is another anti social situation.

Thanks frank it was a thought I was having but I don't have an asic card and don't plan on getting one and there seem too be a lot of negatives too the idea so if I do get work I think I just drive !

But thank you for the offer

 

 

[Happyflyer]

Thanks frank it was a thought I was having but I don't have an asic card and don't plan on getting one and there seem too be a lot of negatives too the idea so if I do get work I think I just drive !But thank you for the offer

What a pity over the top bureaucracy has again curtailed flying in Australia. A few years ago I dropped in at West Wyalong airport. It is a "security controlled airport" and was as dead as an airport can get. Someone had solved the gate code problem by putting some thing in the lock to jam it open. Ceduna has a good system where you make up your own code on the inside of the gate to open it and it remembers your code to let you back in (if you remember it).

 

 

[SDQDI]

Good old West Wyalong, my cousin and I were flying direct from Dubbo to my inlaws near Narrandera and about 15 minutes before we were to overfly WW someone mentioned a toilet and all of a sudden the urge to pee became almost unbearable. There were quiet a few nice paddocks underneath us but as I had never been to the WW airport before I thought why not stop there for the toilet stop and have a close up look at it. I flew overhead had a quick check of the sock and joined on crosswind for a very close circuit, had a nice relitively fast taxi to the apron and after shutting down we both trotted to the gate which wasn't a problem to get through but once there found the terminal and toilets locked up tight:fear: Anyway we solved the pee problem and also relieved the drought pressure on a couple of the shrubs.......

 

Lesson to self, West Wyalong while having a beautiful looking terminal building is not the place to stop for a quick toilet stop.

 

It is frustrating to have all this infrastructure go to 'waste'. (Dazza see how I added emphasis to the waste word:stirrer:, isn't that the proper use of those marks) it turns me off flying to those airports. Instead I will stick to the airports I have found user friendly and when I am close to one like WW and have a need I will be calling on some paddock instead.

 

 

[Letitia]

Hey Doug,

 

Most people who come here just park their aircraft on the tie down lines (if you can find a spare spot). There are about five hangars at the airport, all of which are rented by various people.

 

Try your luck with one of the local operators. Calibre is to the south and about 5-10 km out of town, they mostly deal with helicopters, so you may not be able to find anything. Aeroprofessionals has the Ag planes. They are about 10km to the west. Their strip is fully gravel (you can see it when flying a base leg on 06). The only other guys are CHAS 10km to the north. They are Ag operators too but their strip is fully sealed.

 

However, saying that if you are based at one of the mines in Springsure, Blackwater, Mooranbah etc. check whether they have their own strip and if you can get permission to land and park your plane there.

 

As for local security; you are going to have some fun with that. To get the gate code you have to see the council and sign a form saying that you will not divulge the code to 'any individual' and that you understand the consequences if you do.

 

Every three months the gate code gets changed and you have to re-sign the form and get the new code. If you don't come regularly you have the option of not getting the gate code but as said earlier you will have to call the council every time you need to go air side to be let in.

 

Have fun and all the best,

 

Letitia

 

 

[Doug Evans]

Thank you Letitia

 

I not made a plan yet as still waiting on a replie from a position in the area but just asking questions too see if it may be an option thank you all for the replies .

 

 

[FlyingVizsla]

The mines are very touchy about allowing "private" people to use their strips. Rolleston Coal does not have an airstrip - they use the Rolleston Town strip (no hangars or facilities), but there is a private strip and hangar parallel to it.

 

 

 

Minerva likewise, does not have an airstrip, they would use Emerald for RPT and Springsure if they charter. Blackwater has an airstrip which used to be "public" but it is on the mine lease and is now only open to RFDS and the mine's charters. Bandana's Springsure Creek (now in Administration) was to use RPT from Emerald and bus their staff from airport to camp to worksite. Nothing at Ensham. Gregory had a strip but only for mine work, Kestrel acquired a strip but I don't think they developed it. Any airstrip on a mine is a security problem if open to the public, so they usually dissuade employees from using it. Most towns near mines have small Council owned strips.

 

 

[johnm]

...................... things might change for the better at Emerald airport ?

 

John

 

Thank you for your email (attached) sent to Mayor, xxxxxx, on 4 March 2015. Cr Maguire has asked me to respond to the concerns outlined in your email.

 

Emerald Airport is a class 3 security airport and therefore security requirements are controlled by the Aviation Transport Security Regulations and the security level is set by the size and volume of Regular Public Transport aircraft using the airport. These regulations are enforced through the Office of Transport Security (OTS) and compliance to the regulations are routinely audited by OTS officers.

 

Council recognises the issue of the verbal password system in place, but it is routinely checked and audited by OTS for enforcement. As an improvement to the security system, Council is in the process of changing the two airside access pedestrian gates to operate with swipe passes. As work is completed we will undertake the process of changing over to the new control system. This of course will require the issue of proxy cards and associated paperwork to satisfy the OTS requirements. It will mean that all card holders will require a one off application, but the system provides unlimited access through the GA pedestrian gates 24/7. Holders of the old password should receive emails discussing the changes in the next week or so.

 

In regard to additional GA parking for light aircraft, work is scheduled for next month and located between the hangars and runway 15/33. This is the first step in upgrades through that GA area proposed for the longer term subject to budgetary constraints. Council is also presently undertaking work on priority projects associated with airfield lighting and runway 06/25 overlay.

 

Hangar space is limited at Emerald Airport with one space currently available. An Expression of Interest process will be undertaken shortly to offer this spare hangar space to interested parties. In addition, an area has been identified at the airport for additional hangars should pilots be interested in constructing their own on site.

 

Thank you for bringing the concerns in relation to Emerald Airport to the attention of Cr Maguire, and I trust that the above information provides clarification in regard to current improvements at Emerald Airport.

 

Regards

 

xxxxxx General Manager Commercial ServicesCentral Highlands Regional Council

 

Address | PO Box 21 | EMERALD QLD 4720

 

P 1300 242 686 D 07 4980 6386 F 1300 242 687

 

xxxx

 

 

[rankamateur]

Mining and Gas have got Queensland buggered! I am sure glad the NSW govt. just bought back the exploration lease over our area. Our local council was falling all over themselves to get the gas wells happening so they were no use. For once the state govt. did something useful.