Surfers Paradise Airfield
 

Anyone have any pic of the above before they closed it?

Wish I did. I've been there a few times. It was the nearest airstrip to Surfers.

What about the Southport airfield, it's not far from Surfers at all, is that still there?

Southport is still there.

The old Surfers strip went the same way as the old Surfers Raceway. Same development site if I recall. Now all built over. Houses, Golf Course/Resort or something.:sad:

I still to this day recall Peter Brock and John Harvey have another 1-2 in the last of the old Group C VK Commodores there. Just after the Bathurst 1-2.

Ahhhh them were the days!....... Geeeze ya sounding like an old fart Jaba! :ouch:

Used to be a top venue, had the funny cars there pretty regularly and the drags for the young hooligans( yep me) and the airfield in the middle of the track. My boss lived across the road from the Dunlop bridge, all the locals got free tickets to all events, he had people knocking on his door all the time with petitions , he used to think WTF , I get to go by foot to world class events ( ZZtop, angels, rose tattoo) ,car racing go karts, drags and all for free ,are you kidding ,you want to stop it!!!
I'd like to see a pic of the old place to,,,,,,ahhh the memories!

If you google Surfers Paradise international raceway you will find a couple of pics.
But for a blast from the past drop this into youtube "Brisbane TV 1985 - RaceCam at Surfers International Motor Raceway" and you will get a live aerial shot and footage of a Tiger Moth, VH-WAP, landing as well as a drive around and commentary.
IIRC I flew in there in the early '90's I think there was a maintenance organisation still there, the strip was getting a bit rough by then. Then got to ride what was left of the track a few years later when doing a motorcycle skills course.

Good memories from there. VH DQZ a C210 owned by Eric Neilsen. If you could shut the doors, it would fly, or so it was said. Eric also had a Beagle 206 which he said was the best aircraft in the world. 3000ft of sometimes long and sometimes wet grass. Now surrounded by a gladiatorial arena of some sort, and people, who complained about Surfers Gardens, now probably complain about that. Oh, and who can forget this was the home of DH, VH-WAP always flying, even doing aero's up and down the beach.

All that's probably illegal today.

Actually everything's illegal today.:*

DC3Q - Well done. Great video. I never made it to the track but I did make it to the waterslide at Grundys as a kid which featured early on !!

How good would it be to fly in and beat all the crowds and traffic hassles.

Yes Southport Alive and Well.

I remember now, Southport is the one with the $25,000 joining fee and the $7k a year membership! (plus hangarage) No wonder I didn't see many people flying in and out of there when I was up there last week!

Southport flying club is a paradise for aviators......however the former president.....Roger......what a clown. He was really good at spending money and driving people away. Well done Roger

Yeh, I found the club there to be about the unfriendliest aero club I've ever been near, made an enquiry about refueling a tecnam there on the way south, well I reckon the presidential visit would've been easier to organize,,,,ended up going in something that could overfly the whole lot.

Mason's Field (YSPT) is a sealed strip 9M wide x 780M long with sealed overruns at each end, and only available to members and the occasional invited guest. The surrounding residential development has continued to encroach and noise complaints have forced the club to implement a "fly neighbourly" plan.

The most recent Membership Fee from the website is $22,000 including GST, which is a one off payment. Add to this a yearly renewal of $310.00 plus a hangar charge of around $500.00.

The reference to administration in an earlier post would have to have come from a current member not happy about the direction the club has taken over the last 6-8 years, and he would not be an orphan. The original incentive to join was the membership fee would entitle one to a plot of land to build a hangar, but that has not been honoured since around 2005, and this amongst other matters has been a source of disaffection.

Also, until 2007 there was a first class maintenance facility operated by the club which was efficient, inexpensive and profitable, but that seemed to fall in a heap because of personality clashes between the LAME and the committee.

For those interested, the club has a website here:

Southport Flying Club

Originally known as 'Surfers Gardens' Airfield I believe, I have a long history with the area, the service road used for the current day development is just North of the original strip which is now part of a lake.....

The area is now used by a bunch of eclectic old airline types flying RC aircraft every Sat-Sun Morn & Arvo, and for the retired Airline guys, just about every afternoon, beers in the BBQ hut watching the sunset over the lake after flying activities!

We have Ex TAA / QF staff, some current QF Staff, some Ex CX Guys, and an eclectic bunch of other aviation lovers, here are some videos of the current area...we're all enjoying as much as possible before the ridiculous Commonwealth games wreck it for everyone....anyways enjoy!!

Some good footage of our strip :O

A bit 'wobbly' but here you go, and Airbus at Emerald Lakes!!

And our 'Tower' at dawn, with some low level fog flying...

Honestly, I'm getting quite sick of people buying into new housing developments right next to an airport, then complaining about the noise.

Recently, I was having a drink in a local pub, a guy and his wife at the table started talking about how the resented the noise of the airport. I actually know their house quite well, I watched it being built. It's lieteally 200m from the threshold and about 20m off the extended centreline. I told them quite frankly that we had no sympathy for them and they should stop complaining. The house was built 4 months ago and the runway has been there since 1937.

Ha ha, with ya Guptar!, this strip did disappear though, more the pity, but it has lived on with a bunch of fanatical aviation fans at least as a thriving yet utterly informal 'club' of like minded individuals, oh, and we have a scanner listening out for any conflicting traffic :ok:

I might get uncharacteristically energetic & scan some old pix of a much younger (and sillier) Jamjar racing motorcycles around Surfers....got one taken from under the bridge that shows the speedo on the Kwaka GPz900R proddy bike pegged on 240 + kmh.:eek:

Aeroplanes used to frequent the strip on race weekends, giving joyflights to racegoers. Local Aeromed helicopters were not in vogue then but during a couple of international events (Swann Series and International Touring Cars) there were private medivac helicopters stationed there.

I believe the japanese golf resort next door bought the circuit simply to shut it down, so they weren't disturbed while wacking little white balls......:sad:

Australian muscle car magazine did an article on racing at Surfers Gardens, including a plan of the race circuit and associated airstrip.

http://cfm.globalf1.net/?page_id=222. Low resolution aerial image. Looks like a video capture.

Here is Surfer's Gardens Speedway with airstrip in the middle during a flood in 1976. The strip is totally submerged,you can just see part of the edge.

http://i1032.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1345198169

The aircraft were pushed to higher ground. The actual speedway is just visible under the water

http://i1032.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1345198027

I took these with my trusty Kodak Instamatic camera onto slide film,so quality not all that good.

Jezzuz Fliegenmong have the fun police not caught up with you & yer mates yet?? Must be at least one miserable b@stard in those units who can hear your RC through the sealed windows, over the noise of the aircon & the soapies. Love yer work.:ok: