closure of ympc,ymen & ymmb
My parents bought a 3 roomed bungalow in Halsey Road, Airport West and moved in when I was 2 weeks old - The hangar that it was 100 yards down the road from later became the TAA jet engine testing hangar and is (I think) now the Police Airwing
Hangar. My brothers, sister, 20 cousins and myself roamed around what was then known as "the paddock" for many hours every day. One of our favourite playgrounds was a derelict aircraft junkyard just across the road from our home. It was surrounded by a 6 foot high cyclone wire fence and guarded by 2 huge alsation dogs. We often used to swipe meat from the fridge to chuck over the fence for the dogs to distract them whilst we climbed the fence and barricaded ourselves inside whatever aircraft could be gotten into to play "pilots and hostesses!" The game would always be up when it came round to dinnertime at 6 o'clock and we'd be yelling our heads off for very irate parents to phone the owners of the junkyard to come and call off their dogs so we could go home. The airport became a very integral part of our lives and we watched its development with much interest and fascination. Our dad explained the workings of the jet engines to us and why it made so much noise. It didn't take long to get used to the noise and we would lay awake at night discussing what could possibly be so wrong with the engine that they had to test it all night long. We figured that they just had to get it right to go back on the plane for the morning. When I see the complexity and size of the current engine testing facility, I understand what progress has been made by aviation companies to attempt to exist with communities around them. The council of the day encouraged homeowners to move from a previously residential zoned area and reclassified it to light industrial. I hated the move across town to the north eastern suburbs. Unfortunately, greedy developers are continuously trying to make life difficult for the aviation industry - witness the closure of Casey Airfield at Berwick - land values soared so high the owners were made an offer they couldn't refuse, and look at that land now - a complete wasteland. Airports must become pro active in objecting to surrounding developments for housing and any other anti aircraft activity that proliferates around their favourite airport. We need to educate the community around our airports to help them understand who they really should be angry at - the greedy developers and real estate agents - we need to fight these people at all levels of government - don't stand back and be complacent, whinge, fight and make lots of noise if you want these airports to survive!