Mimpe said:-
I loved Aeropelican - wish the airport was open again to serve to people of Newcastle and perhaps with a few local GA aircraft as well, or an aero club. It was a great way to start off an international trip from Newcastle, and a lovely commute to Sydney.
Personally, I found Aeropelican operators to be unhelpful in 2 experiences I had with them.
In 2001 or 2002, Aeropelican was the only aerodrome in Australia that had an entry in its ERSA description that said something like, "No private pilot license holders allowed" or words to that effect. I held, at that time a PPL(H) license with 2000 hours rotary turbine experience, flown around Australia, USA and Canada, owned a factory new turbine rotary aircraft and had attended factory training. Due to a sudden and tragic bereavement, I had to pick up a relative flying from Sydney to Caves Beach (nearby suburb to Aeropelican) so I telephoned the airport and asked for permission to land there with my PPL. The answer was NO. No amount of reasoning sufficed. Due to the exigency of the situation I called back and offered $1,000 as a landing fee. The answer was again NO. At that time their landing charge was I think less than $5 a pop. This rule was bad for their business.
I was so annoyed I wrote a letter to AOPA after the funeral telling everyone how unfair I thought Aeropelican was. They replied with some innocuous reason about a fixed wing running off their runway flown by a PPL. I had explained I had no need for their runway, just a patch of grass big enuf for a helicopter. Later I consulted a large Sydney law firm to see if I could get them to find it discriminatory to prevent PPL's from using the aerodrome. I couldn't. I guess I could have just flown in and pleaded ignorance but I wanted to do the right thing.
So Mimpe, your comment on serving Newcastle GA enthusiasts is not really an accurate one.