Skybird

[Capt Wally]

...........anybody in here fly for or at SKYBIRD AVIATION late of EN say back from 1980 onwards?.............just wanting to see where pilots of the day are today:)

CW:)

[oicur12]

Yep. Learnt to fly there. Was there from 86 until about 90. Washed many an aeroplane there come rain or shine.

Now in KA. A330 Cap.

There are some others ex Skybird here in KA. A320 Cap / A320 FO.

[bekolblockage]

Did my Grade 3 Instructor Rating with them back in about 82-83.
Working in Hong Kong ATC now.

[Capt Wally]

.................ahhh tnxs guys, Out of all the misery one can read amongst these pages it's nice to see some made it to where they wanted. I thought I was the only one left out of that mad lot from there !:) Good to see that the 'products' of SKYBIRD where successful. Remember the line of planes out the end of the EN terminal all shinny ? VH PIX, VH SOX VH BMN etc.('cause we washed them !) & those fake rubber plants in the offfice:), they (SKYBIRD) where probably the dearest operator on the airport at the time but they did have the best indoor plants as well as the most planes :) And that Cessna Pilot Training course, on the so called computer !................CPC I think it was called, even have the red bag that you bought yr learning stuff in !:), now where getting all teary here:)
Trying to recall that incident where one of SKYBIRDS instructors went to the states to ferry back a C172RG I think it was & never got the plane back to OZ. Ditched & was picked up by a fishing boat, I believe his wife said...............do that again & where finished !:).............lucky guy, had an 'out' even in those early days !:}..................anyway seems like a zillion years ago now !

CW:)

[bekolblockage]

Yeah. Was his first ferry trip across the pond I think. GB ("the Barking Toad" - you had to know the Derek and Clive sketch!) from memory. Long time ago now.

[oicur12]

I went solo in SOX (and pants and a shirt)

Remember in about 87 when an RAAF C130 came to EN and was taxying towards its awaiting entourage near police air wing when one of the tarmac terriers from skybird raced out and marshalled it into one of our spots where the dca f28 usually parked. For half a day we had a Herc on line.

SOX / PIX / BMN / RSB / WOJ / AIX / OLY / MVE / Phils magic hanger. The galley.

Memories huh.

[oicur12]

Oh, I forgot the nicknames Maitland used too . . .

Ickerbod, Gunner, Dickie knee etc

[boocs]

And I believe John is now a practising lawyer! Good luck to him.
Still thought Black JAK was a very cool looking aircraft. My first twin!!

And some of the quotes John used to make. Here are some I can still recall, and to this day have no idea what they mean :

"He probably votes Labor and eats margarine with a spoon"
"That ADF in Black JAK is so f...ing powerful it can pick up the King Island NDB on the ground at Essendon"
"Yep, it's good to start a turbocharged engine and rev the **** out of it just to get the turbo working"
"They've only got those aeroplanes cause they're f...ing drug runners"
"My mate Jeff is gonna cream it in at the election"

b.

[Capt Wally]

............ah am welling up in the eyes thinking back to the good 'ole days:)
Other rego's at SKYBIRD where WYG WYJ as well WOJ already mentioned. When under pressure trying to get those rego's out without sounding like a complete goose was challenging at times !:)
Seems like there's only a few of us here who either remember SKYBIRD or want to forget !:)...........anyway 'tis nice reminiscing.
Bachuus Marsh, how many times did we tranist out there for training?.............racked up many hrs just enroute to the training area !

............keep the dream alive guys fly safe:)

CW

[EPIRB]

And I wonder if Russ and the Sherriff are still around?

[boocs]

And wasn't there the Phantom in ADL?

[squidward]

Dusted off the old log book for this one:

Restricted test 1986 in PWP. Also flew RSB, PIX, UVS, OLY, ITC.

Unrestricted test in WOJ with Maitland in 87. Remember looking for the strobes in the western lane on the trip back from BCS. After landing at EN he asks me "you know what those white lines down the centre of the runway are for?.... thats the fukcing centre line and you're supposed to land on it"

Twin endorsement at MNG in JAK.

Had a 'real' job for a while and stopped flying 92 - 2001.

First pilot job in 2004, currently flying a lawn dart.

[EPIRB]

Good to see he got his command. Remember the late Norm Lee? Top bloke and a very sad loss. I had many a good Skybird charter in Norm's PA-31's.

[flying-spike]

I used to fly Discover *lying's Doves while you blokes were with Skybird. I wouldn't mind getting in touch with Nick B. If anybody has contact details please PM me.

[Capt Wally]

......ahhhhhhhhhhhh "flying-spike" now yr bringing back memories, not all that good either !:bored: I too used to fly the DH-104 for MM many moons ago, I think I racked up a few hundred landings at PID with those 'little' people on board who loved the penguins !:) I can still remeber & laughing (not at the time) a 'twin loc' app by another pilot to EN for rwy 26 !!!!!...........I guess when yr 'cut -out-stick-on' ADF fails (falls off the panel !!)what else do you do?:}Good 'ole VH ABM & VHNBM, may they both rest in piece/s !:) Who knows what those 2 X IO720's where sucking up on T/Off...the FF was off the planet !
Great to see a few guys here dusting off logbook No. 276514762965429:}
for the memories:)

Tnxs for the memories & to Ron 'Jaco" at Riddels Creek for fun times when SKYBIRD had a satelite station out there, at around $35 an hr for a C172 we thought we where paying heaps..........oh how we wish now:)

CW:)

[flying-spike]

ABM was OK (for a Dove) but NBM nearly killed me and a few customers with an assymetric flap incident . That was sorted but afterwards it used to roll left a few degrees when you selected the first stage for landing.Used to put the wind up me!:\

[Capt Wally]

.................ahhhhh good 'ole NBM..............yr right 'fkying-spike' it was a beast & a the flying disaster !!!.........remember the pneumatics??.............there was so much oil in the pneumatic system from constant leaks from the compressor that I felt the system would have been better off being called hydraulics !:}.............still they where very stable & I can remember flying ABM once in the cruise back from PID with using only the rudder pedals & elevator trim 'till short final, such was the inherent stable nature of the big 4 tonne bird:) ABM had the original fin/rudder & was better at getting the beast under control early in the T/Off run, not so for NBM, (with the cessna type tail) one had to 'dance' on the rudder pedals to make that ugly duckling stay on the straight & narrow !:)

.................oh how we tap danced around fate back in the good 'ole days :)

CW

[EPIRB]

And remember when they'd get bogged down at Phillip Island and everyone, passengers included, would have to get under the wing and lift?

[Capt Wally]

.............now now EPIRB I care not to remember such things:bored:.Probably got a crook back 'cause of that !!!!!........:bored: PID............boy that place was a joke when it came to rwy lighting & decent parking area's.
Saw the funniest thing down there years ago(not funny at the time tho). One late afternoon a low wing job came in for a touch & go & the airport owner saw this event (won't mention any names here) & when he spotted the offending plane (offending 'cause there where landing fees payable for all a/c, bit hard to pay when you bash & crash!)) he (owner) promptly got in his old old old clapped out car & proceeded to drive along the rwy & block the ldg A/C( a go-around was performed & he shot thru!)............all for what??.................$5 bucks or so at the time????............still ldg fees are another whole subject !

.............more to come am sure !:)

CW:)

[flying-spike]

The same gentleman (and he is/was?), did a stirling job of putting reflector tape on the tyres surrounding the runway lights. Came in handy for a 10pm takeoff when the PAL wouldn't work!

[Stationair8]

So what actually caused the demise of Skybird?
Anything to do with the accident with the Cessna 414 near Welshpool?

[Capt Wally]

................i'm not too sure what caused the demise of SKYBIRD I was hoping someone else might know that. Probably the owners ran out of money, other peoples money:)
I always liked JM, one of the owners of SKYBIRD, very shrude operator tho, he did well by me.

Flying-spike what about those taxi lights at PID, they where a joke !!......remember them?..............12v globes the size that you would find in a small torch covered by up turned juice bottles !!!......talking about a $2 operation !:}

Anybody in here hire one of the C172's SKYBIRD had based at RID ? I think WYJ, WYG & WOJ where rotated thru RID esspecially during the winter months when things where a little quite at EN to get some utilization.

Somebody must know why SKYBIRD closed their doors?


CW

[Spotlight]

Do you mean Riddell? Yeah, did that. Lonely days out there I can tell you.

Why they folded? No idea, in those days I wasn't even near to the action let alone part of it.

[tail wheel]

No names, thank you.

Tail Wheel

[Kev9]

YMEN was the best place in the '80s.
JM was one of the stars. A man for his time.
Hope it gets a new rush with all the new work going on there at the moment.
A unique place and time...
:)

[Capt Wally]

.............hey "kev" don't worry EN is getting a 'new rush' as you call it only it's not in the form of anything aviation !(apart from a few new hangers & the silliest thing I've ever seen at an airport a vehical/plane crossing gate !!!!)..............going there these days you would think that a few planes where parked at a major shopping centre !!.............I bet the owners ( & we all know who they are) would love to close the airport side of the place & put up lots of shops/units...............luckily the infrastructure needed for that is beyond the area's capabilities at the present time.

"tailwheel"....where's the name telling?? surely not RID (Riddell) that's a place not a persons name?:bored:

CW:)

[Spotlight]

Okay, I see your point tail wheel. So unspeakable were their actions that their names should never be mentioned.

But, as I said I might be wrong, and would apologise if I cast a slur.

[Kev9]

CW (J)
I think its happening all over the country with airports.
To much space.....overall
So is the case with YMEN.
Check YMML
Sorry but nothing will be with us forever.. sad to say

YMEN was a bit (sorry to say 'overbloated') big in terms of area.
Maybe them wanting less GA and more BIZJET isn't so bad.
New plan is to make it big time 'security' by April.
To also rid the curfew and raise the MTOW for a/c ...and plus more RPT..

I hope a pub on the drome will emerge from the new ashes....

[Spotlight]

What! No Flight Deck anymore. Good Disco!

[Capt Wally]

......ahhhh yeah the old 'flight deck'.............sheeeez that seems like yonks ago !!..........used to do night joy flights with patrons from that establishment. If they build a pub at EN then where cactus !!!:}...................the new supermarket there has seen a few extra kg's go on !:bored:
KEV9 hate to see what 'big time' security their planning by April, the place is Ni impossible to get into now !
And the damn PAL lighting EN has now, keep popping out of the soup (when twr closed) only to see, well not see the lights !!.........hard to adjust after nearly 30 yrs of flying at EN !:)
As a kid I used to pedal my bike over to EN leave the bike with the parking guy & just wonder about certain area's of the airport with little resistance not to mention hrs atop the observation deck. I blame those noisy DC9's, F27's & B727 for making me want to fly !:)

CW

[Kev9]

CW
You is old....
Post '56 Olympics...maybe???
About the time most of YMEN went through it's last flowering..
I think the tower which was built ...(could be wrong) about 1956.
The plan includes moving the tower to the end of the southern finger.
By the way the taxiway over the road ain't that unique.
Two other places in the world have it .... trivia .... can you name them???

[All Spades]

To clear up a nickname or two;
It was Fred Bassett, named after the newspaper cartoon hound and coined by the man himself ,as almost all names were.
Others I remember were: POD,Guy, Hanger,Zap,Gumby,the Pin Head,the Trowl,the Rabbit,the Snake, Philistine and "Blood and Guts".

Guy also a lawyer and has his own flying school.
Many of his employees now at majors like: QF,CX,SQ and EK.
Some at smaller operators like KA and VB.
Sheriff in Qld, Russ still around.

I think that Skybird was one of the best possible introductions to aviation.If it didn't happen to you , you would certainly hear about it happening.After Skybird virtually nothing would surprise you.

Best thing about JM was that everybody who went through there had a chance at a job.All you had to do was grab the bull by the horns,grow a skin thick enough to deflect he "incomming knives" and wait.You waited until all the pilots ahead of you ( for some reason or another) became ars-h-le of the day/week/month and then you became the golden boy.A form of seniority,so to speak.
Some people, for one reason or another, didn't stick it out long enough to get over the initial hump. School of hard knocks to a certain extent.
Of course the girls were always "golden" at Skybird, for "various" reasons.

Some hard times there but, there have harder times since.
Some really really funny times.Prefer to remember those.

Think JM started with just 2 planes and ended up with some 20+.

Who remembers?: " It's confirmed! Out there, on the line, Monday morning, 6 Kingairs/Falcons/ citations or whatever!

The demise, well, I have heard a version but, after typing out a fairly detailed piece from my fading memory, I decided that it is best to just let it lie and I deleted it.
I am sure that JM went down fighting and most likely his final insult would have included a big raspberry and a one finger salute.
Fond memories.
If you read this JM,all the best!

[Capt Wally]

..............hey careful KEV9........me not too old, anyway yr age isn't that far away from this 'old :bored:man' !
I think yr correct there KEV9, the twr was built for the Olympics (1956)but that's an educated guess..............well uneducated one probably !:)
I'm not aware of any other a/c xings so plz enlighten us !:)
"All Spades" I know what JM & GP are up to these days & I have a fair idea of what transpired towards the end of SKYBIRD not the exact reason but I prefer to also let it die.

Am wondering whether some of you out there that where involved with SKYBIRD remember Vh-DVK?...............an older model C150.............I used to be a part owner of it (7 of us I think it was) & we charged ourselves $10 an hr to fly it !!!!.inc fuel !!!!!:)....still we where all engineers/mechanics I guess:-) Out of the 7 owners I think only 2 of us got thru to ATPL level, would be nice to know of the others if anyone can recall.

CW:)

[Kev9]

CW
Is there a taxiway crossing over a road in WA???
And maybe one in Europe...maybe???

Mind you getting caught waiting for the security gate to re-open can 'grip my ****e' .. hehe

[oicur12]

Fred Bassett is now based in MEL with CX.

Ahhhh, blood and guts. B 'n' G as he was known. There was a reason for his name.

POD. Still with EAL based in MEL last I heard.

Gunner. Unfortunately met a sad demise in a helicopter.

A lot of fun was had. As tarmac terriers (86+) we had an awesome intro to aviation. Picked up stacks of hours ferrying aircraft around or operating as FO in the cheyanne etc. Great exposure. Hung out as Fallsy blasted off in BSJ or the IPEC DC9 rattled off to LST.

JM was my first boss in aviation. After all these years, it turns out he was actually pretty good. He had a lot of passion for aviation and his business and even his staff when he was in a good mood. Mind you, folks like dickie knee sure ducked a stapler or two being flung at them when JM was pissed off.

Good times. The 4 of us terriers driving around the apron late one night on the tug sticking skybird stickers on EVERY aircraft on the southern apron, Argosy included (needed some airstairs to reach).

[Stationair8]

Don't forget the Skybird US Nay "Top Gun" ace that did the endorsements on the Cheyenne.

Young Sandy at PID yes the landing fee is this and I would prefer cash and you don't need a receipt!

[All Spades]

Who was the navy top gun?
Anyone know what has happened to Dickie ?

[EPIRB]

Has anyone given any thought to a Skybird reunion?

[Capt Wally]

........good point "EPIRB".......a reunion might be the go, might look into that seeing as I started this SKYBIRD reminiscing session here where the good 'old days where just that:)

Watch this space, there will be more:)

CW

[boocs]

Wot about "the Camel"?? Heard he had to marry into a family (or viceversa) but has since given up flying.

Oicur, yes JM my 1st Boss as well, and at the end of the day he went out of his way to give me a few hours in whatever capacity he could. Not too many like him left around. Thanks John!!!!

Blood n' Guts.... still gives me nightmares whenever I think of giving Straight and Level Briefings.(Did he give up flying???)

As for Al W., wot a character!! Hope he is still in good health. Another story of his I recall when he was giving Commercial Final Lectures (which I think I failed more than once!!!).... "Yeah, I remember bak on the nooooiiiyyne(9) 1 nite when we were takin off out of Lonny, and we we went thru a flock of seagulls and fcuk me it smelt like KFC down the back!!"

I think the whole class laughed for the rest of the day.

As an aside, is it true that Kylie M. made her first video (Locomotion??) at Skybird???

[EPIRB]

She certainly did. The cameraman was David Connell who was the director of photography for "The Aviator" with Christopher Reeve and also "Moby Dick."