YMMB
 

Over the last few weeks had a few trips into YMMB, good to the a bit more flying activity.
Seems to a fair bit of flying training both rotary and fixed wing going on compared to a few years ago when i last visited.
I was having a wander around to fill in time as you do some things change yet other things haven't changed over the last 30 years;
1.No more mass departures at 4pm for Flinders Island Airline PA-31 carrying the newspapers upcountry- afternoon edition of The Herald,

2.Ron Roberton theory classrooms long gone,

3.Schutts Hangar no new Cessnas waiting to be assembled inside, the flying s school long gone old Schutty would turn in his grave,

4. Fred Blakes old office is still their, just no new shiny Pipers out the front.
Remember parked up at the fence with the For Sale sign on the prop

5. John Corrells office for Correll Advanced Flight Trainingtaken over by some accountant

6. Australian Air Charterers/Ausair-no more PA-31 heading up to Tulla to do night freight,

7. Civil flying Services no longer in operation

8. No more 35 centre for IFR arrivals or departures-not recommended for the faint hearted

9. No more 3DB flying tadpole - younger generation will have to think about that,

10. Wandering back to my aircraft, I notice a young instructor and a student head off to pre-flight a Cessna C152, I wonder how many times that has happened over the years at YMMB.

11. The C172's used by the SEC for powerline inspections.

As we taxi we join the line of Pa-28 and Cessna taxing with eager students, a Seminole heading off for an IFR Navex , RFDS Kingair , a flash looking Jabiru even some of the call-signs sound familiar.

Good to see the old place busy

Remember four in the circuit, for both runways, and six waiting at the holding point to have a go.

Hey, the economy is booming, isn't it, where are the students?

I guess avgas was only 50c.

At least the "house of lies" aka the RVAC bar is still in operation, nothing like a cold beer or two after a hard day of studying those CPL theory subjects.
Wasn't unusual in those days to be having a quiet ale on a Friday night and be joined by one or two of the local DCA/CAA guys for informal discussion on all things aviation, probably earned the regulator more respect than any bull!!!! dreamed by some idiot in Canberra!! Please take note Mr Byron and Mr Gibson.
Some of the other operators that come to mind that have disappeared include:

1. Nicholason Skyways

2. Brents Ted Sents foray into selling aircraft.

3. Bib Stillwell operating Learjets on charter work

4. Central Flying Services

5. Combined Flight Training

6. Southern Air services

7. Van Dusen aviation supplies over on the northern side

So no one can remember the 3DB flying tadpole, flying around the bay?

You have brought back many memories of my days at Moorabbin Stationair!:ok:

I did my theory with Ron Robertson way back in 1986, there were 6 of us on the course, I often wonder what happened to the other 5! At lunch times we would wander around the airport poking our noses into hangars and aircraft along the flight line, no one ever asked what we were doing, it was the done thing back then.

I remember too the 3DB flying tadpole, it was no longer flying for the radio station at the time, but still wore the 3DB colours. It impressed me so much, I have dreamed of owning a 'twin seabee' since!;)

Cue music: Memories, light the corner of my eyes...

I remember the "Tadpole" very well! Unsure if it was 3DB one, but its certainly the Republic SeaBee. Its actually parked down at Tyabb in Hosking's hangar waiting to have its restoration finished. I think it only requires an engine, and wings to be put on.

Other things to be noted:

1. TVSA flying school gone
2. MFTA flying school gone
3. The "Caves" gone - old RVAC live in quarters
4. Old CASA building empty & dessertted
5. Linton is selling his hangar & contents
6. Superior Aviation Services went under

Anybody remember the twin piaggio? The one with the two pusher engines, what was that?:ooh:

Yes Howard, the good old days.

The joys of being allowed to wander around an airport, without any form of ID, in and out of hangars, poking around the aircraft for sale, wandering in and out of flying schools to get the aircraft hire rates etc.

A number of the flying schools had B36, C210 and PA32r to hire out in the old days!!

Anyone remember the two D50 Twin Bonanza's that lived there in the 1970's,
VH-CLM was one of them.

A couple of more companies that have gone:

1. Bassair had a Dove for freight down to King Island

2. Air Tasmania operated Bandeirantes KNQ & KNO

A big thank-you to Osama for cutting back my ability to wander around airports like YMMB

I haven't been to Moorabbin for about 5 years, but last time I was there the only thing that looked the same was the aircraft museum! Hadn't changed in twenty years...;)

Is it still there?

I also remember the Ingham Brothers making their twice weekly visit into Morabbin in VH-ING, still hear it getting around, although it has had several incarnations since and looks a little flasher now!:ok:

Civil Flying School closed and deserted.

Stop it Stationair, I am getting all misty eyed...:{

Stationair 8 it may very well have been me in that RFDS kingair at YMMB the other week, i've been in there a few times of late ! Damn waste of resource I reckon but that's another story:bored:
Love going out of there near M/T back to EN VFR & climbing like a homesick angel !:)You can peg the vsi at around 4000 fpm:)

I like flying into there as long as the twr is open, if not & it's busy with traffic in the circuit it can be a real pain!
I can recall back in the early 80's I hired a C210 TIZ for a boys trip to FLI. We got stuck on the Is for days due lousy wx (VFR in those days) & when I did manage to return to YMMB the wx was still RS! I slipped in via the eastern side of the airport (GMH, 118.1 twr I think) & then had to after much cloud dodging proceed via carum but still had in my mind from ATIS that I was to land on rwy 31R (118.1 told me to stay with them, one piece of swiss cheese lined up !)...........you guessed it landed on 31R (eastern side) purely 'cause it didn't occur to me (green pilot back then, trying to stay vis) that changing inbound reporting points made for a diff rwy....whooooooooopppppppppsssssss:bored: Twr guy was good (NO ESIR;s in those days) he simply said after I taxied off, take the next taxiway & ty for ldg on the wrong rwy!!!!:bored:, god how low can one feel !:{............oh well at least I learnt something that day, never to just 'assume':bored::{

Ah the good 'ole days, Need tissues now:{

CW:)

Midle of the night is pretty good, or when there is a 400 ft overcast!:ok:

hey HH I remember (lot of that going on here) doing an RNAV onto MB R17 at night with a med team aboard & had to make a missed app due not seeing "zip" at the Min...........odly enough heard an A/C taxing out for a practice NDB app !! I did mention on the CTAF that you may want to think twice about that & went over to ML Dep. Didn't know the outcome. Probably 'stationair8' trying to go home after all that reminiscing, sorry just kidding buddy:ok:

CW:ok:

Howard, the twin Piaggio would a P-166 operated by Captain Jack Ellis. A legend in the aviation business!
I think Forrestair operated a number of P166 on charter and freight work.
The mighty "pig" a mans aeroplane, flown by men not some flaming FMS/GPS Autopilot. Had a real glass cockpit-glass in the windscreen and glass in those little flight instruments.

Thanks Stationair, a mans aeroplane? Can't say I have ever flown one of those...;)

Capt Wally, no it wasn't a flying Coke can from Essendon it was from Tassie.

Cap'n Wally, sounds like if you had initially discussed Runway Right with the tower, and recieved no instruction otherwise, that it would be perfectly natural to land on the Right.
And if the vis was that bad, surely the lights were on? (If i'm right in thinking its the two eastern runways that have the lights)

Aren't they Kentucky fried Chicken boxes at Essendon?;)

I got another the MMM traffic 172!:ok:

No Roulettes 1,2,3 & 4
Do you wear one of those flightsuits Capt wally?
The little lady that flies for the RFDS out of Essendon looks very neat in her flightsuit!

Thats where I learned to fly! :ok:

Last year the little PA28 I solo'ed in (VH-HLD) went off to continue its life in Malaysia..

Bevan..

Yes guys they do (B200's) look like KFC flying boxes !:)
"Las" at the time there where clouds everywhere & the main game was to remain visual, aviate, navigate & communicate. Perhaps the twr man did advise the change of rwy but I most likely acknowledged it & still went ahead with that had been set in my mind from first contact. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but humans tend to only say that after the event !:) I don't recall the rwy lights being on at the time.

Flightsuits are optional, but they do work better than the traditional monkey suit which is a sign of authority to the general public, a lot of our 'customers' find it comforting to see pilots & paramedics work as a team wearing jumpsuits:)

CW:)

Capt Wally, you are not the first to land on the wrong runway at YMMB, as a student solo, I followed a "professional" in a twin turbine thingy only to be told at the last minute to turn left and head back for 35R - the Professional landed on 31R. All the Tower said was "Oh well, it was a good landing".

Also had the pleasure, after three runway changes in 30 minutes of fluky wind changes, of going head to head with another aircraft on takeoff from 17R, seconds later the Tower saw him and there where frantic calls of "Break Right, Break Right".

Likewise a mate of mine in his newly purchased twin, took us all for a joyride forgot to set the DG inbound and joined for 13R instead of 17R, straight through the circuit-much confusion and cursing!

A friend did his NVFR or the big Class4 Instrument rating at YMMB in the 1970's and each of the major flying school's were allocated a night for circuits with no night circuits on a Saturday night.
He did his with Schutts who were allocated Monday night, and half the time the weather would be no good, so you would have to wait for the following Monday night.

Memories
 

Stationair8: Yep I do (noisy buggers) and the other one was VH-CLN.

I did my training at MB in '73 and you also failed to mention another couple of things that have disappeared or changed:

- the 04/22 grass runways;
- no GAAP contra-rotating circuits;
- the old control tower and briefing office;
- having to call MB Ground for taxi clearance;
- VFR Full Reporting and NOSAR/NO DETAILS;
- the run-up bays which in those days were located close to the runway 35/31 thresholds;
- large number of market gardens (instead of houses) surrounding the airport (it was very easy to find GMH then) and
-the lack of parking space for aircraft even on the grass.

Also Saturday mornings training in a Be23 on VDO and being number 11 waiting for takeoff! Then again, it was only $29 per hour dual; still a lot of money for a young goat in those days. Also no pilot headsets in training aircraft in those days: just the unbearable noise, hand signals from your instructor, the hand-held mic and the ability to guess correctly what the tower guy was saying to you (?)

Ah, those were the days!

Yes as a young RPPL walking into the MB Briefing Office, heading of on that first big Navex. The guys always went out of their way to be helpful, trying to digest all that information.

I had a flick through the logbook, hired a C172 VH-RLG from RVAC in Feb 87 and a check flight with instructor W Chapel, while on a lunchbreak from Ron's theory class, must have been a bit short had to put in the old Bankcard that week.

Move forward to 2007.

VH-RLG can be found on the RVAC flight line.

Flew RLG July 2007. Almost incinerated TLM in May 2006.

RLG probably the only thing changed is the price of hire and it has one of them new fangled GPS devices. I saw it on the Royal Vic flightline still think is the same colour, obviously somebodies pride and joy.

So Sunfish that is why they call you midas everything you touch you break?

Ahhhh Stationair8

I remember the Briefing Office, when I was learning at YMMB in the 80's those guys were excellent!!

And back then the circuits used to really busy as well, ah happy days.

9 years and I retire and will get to annoy the circuit at YMMB again!!

RLG & TLM were owned by the Limon's who own Skylines Skyshop at Moorabbin. Kevn, Ron & Alex.

I think RLG is now owned by RVAC, I think Kevin still owns TLM.

Stationaire: I've only bent two aircraft, but I'm working on it.

The old briefing office had the black and white aerial photo of Melbourne and suburbs on one wall.
You would be putting in your plan for your big Navex, next some old GA driver who putting his IFR plan
Also the airport fire service.

Ah stationair8, you better explain the word 'briefing' officers, a lot of youngins' in here have never had the pleasure of that fantastic service, now taken from us 'cause of that dirty phrase........user pays !:bored: I'd like to shoot that turkey who coined that one !
The MB & EN briefing office where institutions for us "gringoes". I can recall slipping upstairs to the EN one in the early 80's where you could even get a free VTC. Once upon a time there was a fairy at the bottom of my garden whom I belived in, now it's been burried under all the work of the goody two shoes who slashed & burned a once great industry !:bored:

CW:bored:
CW

Henry Bosch wrote the early to mid 80's Report that became the 'User Pays' mantra for subsequent governments of various colours.

A pox on that particular policy.............................

tipsy:{

Hey tnxs 'tipsy', how about we put together a possy for a 'turkey shoot'?:}..........

CW

Well capt Wally.
You have got me thinking now of my great times at MB, started out with Southern Air services, many a good friday night party there with instructors like Malins, Smith just to name a few, then tried the comms with Mansell Smith, not getting all with him, went to Tony Roberts to continue, Met with Mal Glover and Ian Mcdonald, what bloody fantastic nights were had at the old Combined Flying school building, did IFR with the guru Steve Pearce at Bini's, in the middle of that Having the great man himself John Lindsay doing my Comm Licience and Instructor rating, a few years with Schutts on the SEC all over the state,Doing the ATPL with Noel at Generals, yes they were great times, I myself was down at MB about 8 weeks ago and you are correct at least the house of Lies is still there, I am sure with different stories told compared to ours, you could even have a chat with the fire guys under CASA office above briefing.Its all differnet now

Now children Briefing Officers were men and woman employed by DCA/DOT/DOTAC/CAA, to provide flight-planning assistance to pilots from rookie to ATPL level. They would supply you with the ARFOR and TAF for your flights, Notam information, provide us mere ppl's with help in flight planning, best way to get through busy airspace etc, a marvelous system.

But like all good things people like to want to change it, so Mr Hawke got his friend MR Bosch(nothing to do with spark plugs) to look into cost recovery as a forerunner to airline deregulation. MR Hawke also had a close friend who run an airline at the time. A young four eyed purveyor of cheap imported electronics goods also got involved as well and in the early 1990's we saw the demise of the Flight Service Officer, the friendly and helpful Briefing Officer and the mass closure of the Flight Service Unit,
.
RIP YMMB Briefing Office and all those that served us lowly humble PPL's

And the old control tower has long since replaced by the more modern architecture. The old one was where Jock the Garden(er) CFI of Civils climbed up to carry on a "dispute" with the encumbant ATC bloke over a claimed disregard of an ATC instruction. Except this time the ATC was really riled and ready for Jock and jobbed him as he opened the door..

Remember the 2 CAA FOI's that started the G100 below the tower at MB and made it inoperative as they took about 20 mins to get their s@#t together and complete their after start checks............MB towers/ground and even the poor old atis were drowned out by those vvvvvvvvvnoisy garretts...........The crew, even after giving their 1st taxi call and hearing only their engine noise when tower tried transmitting to them, had no idea what was going on?????? Until one of the tower guys come down and gave them the hand signal to........F@#$ O%% :ugh: