Moorabbin Airport in 2021
 

Gday all,

Went to the eastern side of YMMB today, to have a look at the impending demolitions of the blue demon Tasfast and Simpson Aeroelectric Hangars, and all i can say is it is truly saddening to see. In case you were unaware, a new DFO is going up and has removed the old eastern grass aircraft parking as well as a considerable chunk of the airport. I have attached some photos of todays outing.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....3800143b94.jpg
The old Ian Baillie Aircraft sales hut /old soar flight ops building impending destruction
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....fcd2a84eef.jpg
New DFO going up, old hangars have already been demolished
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....f7243f2ff0.jpg
Old TASFAST building awaiting its fate
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....0ac731eb13.jpg
Tasfast looking a bit worse for wear
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....0bb8b131f7.jpg
Inside of TASFAST
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....210fc0d547.jpg
The view looking down towards the old grass parking area. Very saddening.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....03c34dd26.jpeg
It sure is sad. I see they’ve moved all the wrecks from the DFO end to the north west of the runways adjacent the northern run-up bay which is a little depressing.

The good news is though that there will be lots of extra parking space, although I’ll miss the “yellow” area on final in poor viz.... it gives something to aim at.

Serious question .. what are all the yellow aircraft. What is their story?

They're former SOAR aviation aircraft who was one of the largest training companies at Moorabbin. They went into administration at the end of last year.

The aircraft themselves are Bristelles, a light sports aircraft.

Thanks for that 👍

So far they appear to be building big factories there, doesn’t look like DFO shops to me....one is supposed to be a bicycle warehouse....

To lose a key part of an airport to a bicycle warehouse is a real kick in the guys to aviation.

More money in bicycles than aeroplanes. No brainer really!

Out of curiosity, do the old FIA and AAC hangars still exist? Is the Royal Vic bar still there?

I remember MB of old as a vibrant GA airport with lots of daily charter and freight flights, maintenance and training going on.

I guess with the carcass of GA well and truly decomposed, there’s not much going on.

Royal Vic are still going strong with bar and restaurant (subject to C19) with the seperate flying school building to the north-west of the bar.

I took this on the weekend. Apologies I missed the construction site, however you can see where Soar used to be, plus the second set of yellow Foxbats, along with RVAC etc. it was disappointing that they demolished the playground when they put the Oxford building next to the tower and didn’t replace it.


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....5d6e2b84c.jpeg

Imagine what the rest of that land is worth now to the grubby developers? One day I'm sure both EN & MB will be gone, replaced with ghettos, just memories in old picture books gathering dust on shelves! -(

Interesting. I count around 170 fixed wing aircraft visible in that image ( or course more in hangars). Mostly it must be said CAE/Oxford, RVAC, Learn to Fly, wrecks and dumped Soar. I've a collection of older aerial images and the one for 1996, in last days of the FAC, shows around 180. Mostly GFS as was, and RVAC, and of course wrecks.
The next Master Plan for Moorabbin (and in fact most federal leased airports) is due out later this year for consultation

Last time i saw aeroplanes dumped like soar, was at tulla when Ansett went under! hopefully that master plan is actually sensible, as there is talk of relocating an apron in-between 35R and 31L, I just think that will end in disaster
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....bce17f646c.jpg

Stored ( dumped ) aircraft are a common site at most airports all over the world . Search photos of ASP , airlines that have gone out of business or going out of business have aircraft stored just like soar . YMMB is just one example , nothing unusual for the times we find ourselves in .

This was taken only a few short years ago.

This was taken:

- Before Soar really took off as you can only see about 5 yellow aircraft
- Before the toxic mound of soil was built on the NW corner
- Post the Oxford being placed where the playground was
- During the Oxford accommodation being built
- Before the Oxford 172's filled the apron at the base of the tower
- Before the massive construction works and the road re-opening on the south-west corner
- Before money-grabbing RTO's became a "thing"

In the scheme of things, quite a lot has happened in recent times, aviation related.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....8a413dda1b.jpg

Thank you, Squawk 7700... brought back a gazillion memories. I’m definitely going to come down for one last walk down memory lane.

AAC, FIA, Schutz, Civils hangars still all there, along with Peninsular’s and Superspread’s... Ahhh... the good old days when we actually had a thriving GA industry.

And I see the NDB is still there. Good grief! Does anyone fly NDB approaches these days? Or is it there as part of the museum which is next door.?

I don’t see Peter Bini’s A-frame... from which hundreds of freshly minted Class One Instrument rated pilots emerged.

I still do NDB approaches for my IPC, but not for much else..

Bini's is opposite RVAC, and next to Skylines.

Do you mean Schutts? They produced lots current and recently retired airline captains. Anyone know who occupies (occupied) their facilities after they shut?

The old Super spread signs are still up, however faded beyond belief!