Old Days at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport

[Ascend Charlie]

The helicopter community owes Dick a huge "THANK YOU" for opening up Sydney airspace, with R405/409, the Chopper routes, and Victor 1.

Made life a lot easier to get around without interfering with the heavy metal.

Thanks also for getting rid of VFR full reporting!

[Fantome]

Re the Sydney historical bit and those memorable docos, the man who supplied the early insights was Philip Geeves. As the ABC’s `resident historian’ he broadcast, with Caroline Jones, a regular radio program from 1978, answering queries from the scores of letters he received each week, especially about family history. From 1980 he also responded to them through his weekly column in the Sydney Morning Herald. He often brought a droll touch to his commentaries. Entering the GG's Sydney residence, Admiralty House, on the harbourside at Kirribilli, he nodded at the large white bust of Sir Henry Parkes, just inside the front door, then took off the imposing black Homburg he always wore and plonked it on the head of the bust, saying -

'This must be where you parks your hat.'

He died of a stroke in 1983, aged 66.

As Dick collaborated with Philip, it'd be good to hear a few reminiscences
of those occasions. Even better if they could be revisited via those tapes sometime soon.

[LeadSled]

Folks,
Let's get one fact right, "user pays" came from the Bosch Report, adopted by the first Hawke Government.

Dick's (AOPA's) slogan was: "User pays, user says", a demand to have a say in the services provided, if we were going to have to pay for services, we didn't want to pay for service not wanted and not needed.

As for the fuel taxes, the major one, finally about 13.8 cents a litre, was a subsidy to secondary airport towers, not aviation infrastructure in general. The remainder, about 2 cents, went to CAA, later CASA.

Nobody could ever convince me (in those days in the bush) or an Ag. operator, or the schools at Hoxton Park (as just one example) why we should all pay 13.8 cents for Avgas (but nil for Jet A) per litre to subsidize Bankstown operators,(or anybody with a kero burner, like all Dick's aircraft) so they could have a "free" tower.

As I recall the figures, about 8% of avgas sales in early1990s was from secondary and other non-primary towered airports, so very roughly, 92% were subsidizing the 8%.

Tootle pip!!

[601]

I remember having an argument with a airport "grounds person" who was adamant that I could not park a Citation I in the "below 12500 lb bay" outside FF.

Another occasion we flew a certain "gentleman," who later resided in Spain, into SY. As he was running late for an international flight, we requested and received approval to park and off load at the International Terminal.

After off loading said "gentleman" we were having lunch before departing for warmer climes when we were visited by a very officious Customs person who demanded our GenDec and associated paperwork.

She could not figure out how an aircraft from BN could be parked at the International Terminal to off load paxs.

Tower persons were very flexible in those days.

[Brian Abraham]

you actually had to depart or approach from the active runway

Used to fly helos into/out of the place quite regularly 69 to 74 and was always given approach and departure direct to/from Flight Facilities. Ditto in a S-76 approx 84.

The only ever hiccup was when ferrying a pair of civil Hueys for delivery to QANTAS to be loaded on a 747 freighter. Thought we would fly in formation to expedite handling but the question arose "do you have (CASA) authority to be in formation?". So we were split up and handled separately. A DC-9 skipper was somewhat unhappy that a pair of helos held up his pushback as they taxied behind him. Not sure whether he was upset at GA using his airport, or was in the usual rush to beat the opposition to the starting line.

[tea & bikkies]

Here is one from the late seventies, landing 16 (no L/R in those days) in a Senica. Did plenty of VFR in PA28 into KSA during same period. Check the empty space both sides of the runway...ah the good old days!