ventus45 – “Fade to black..”

I was never Luke Skywalker – but I was young once …………………
I joined the AAL (Australian Air League) in 1964, at the tender age of ten.

{Side note 1: I was a founding member of the Clemton Park AAL Squadron in fact – establishd by Mr Bell and the Russell brothers (big kids – sixteen, seventeen or so).
Side note 2: We were later amalgamated with Marrickville Squadron. }

So what – you ask – or perhaps don’t ? Well, our first “outing”, a small group of 12 of us, with a couple of “father officers”, was a trip to YSBK, in it’s hey-day.

I had been looking forward to it for weeks. Keen as mustard, as excited as hell.

I had my Kodak instamatic camera, two flash cubes, two fresh AAA’s, and, two vp-126 cartridges of, wait for it, not just B&W film, but Kodak Ektachrome slide film, that had cost me a WHOLE month’s pocket money, plus a “secret supplement from mum” – don’t tell your father !!).

The day finally came, I awoke, I jumped out of bed like an olympic high-jumper, I looked out the window, and then I felt instantly depressed.

It was a filthy day weather wise, rain, low cloud, and windy, and I mean real windy !!

But I was not deterred.

Mum had her doubts, but she let me go anyway.  After all, I wouldn’t dissolve in the rain, nor run the “unacceptable” risk of getting one or more of a possible zillion imaginary ailments, not like modern kids.
Modern mums would not have let me go, no way.

But back then, we kids didn’t mind getting wet, or dirty, nor did our mums, really.
It was “normal” then – wasn’t it ?

I walked the well worn path to the Clemton Park Public Primary School (the assembly point), of 400 metres (it was “yards” back then, bloody yards !! – OK !!), in uniform, in the rain.

As I walked, hopped, skipped and part jogged off on my way, the neighbours waved, and I waved back.
That was normal then too.

One by one, the others arrived, all excited and rearing to go.

Eventually, two cars pulled up, and we all piled in. Two car loads – we held the record for the number of kids squeezed into Mr Bell’s beetle !!)

No seat belts, no air-bags. (air-what’s ?). None of that stuff then.

Me and my mate, being the two youngest and smallest, were prone in the boot, with the lid cocked up about a foot by two bits of four-b-two and secured with two “belt-straps”, and off we went !!
(For those who don’t know where the boot is in a beetle, do a google.)

“Ops Normal Officer” !!

Could you just imagine what would happen today, if a Highway Patrol Copper saw that ?

Assuming he recovered from his heart attack, he would have to “call it in” to Highway Patrol Command. Such a situation is way, way, way, way beyond a senior constable’s discretionary decision matrix today. It would require a deputy commissioner level decision – minimum.  Far too risky for a “pull over – stop” – what if the driver bolted ?
Any pursuit would be out of the question – career ended.  Even a “follow at a discrete distance and report” would be way too risky in a lolly-pop-car. He would have to call in an unmarked job for the “trail”.

Mean time, Central Command would have Polair one, two, three and four all scrambled (ironically out of YSBK), the Commissioner would be informed, the TRG called out, the Police Minister and Premier informed (there will be one hell of a media storm to weather once the nine and seven and ten news helos get wind of it) road blocks will be set up, ambo’s put on alert, local hospitals alerted, DOCS informed, negotiators called out………..

God, I am getting sick just thinking about it. 😳

You know it would happen.  If we could still scan the airwaves like in the old days (all the services have encrypted radios now) we could laugh our guts up, and maybe, be motivated to do something about the lunacy of operations in the “PC” world of today, but it is hidden, few people know, or care, and none act, effectively.

I digress – sorry ……….

Just one barb: CASA – eat you heart out !!

Now, where was I ?

Oh yes, I remember ……

We started off at 8am and arrived (safely) at YSBK by 8:30am.

We did the rounds of the hangars.  It seemed like dozens of them.  All hives of activity, mechanics, pilots (real ones – with wings on their shirts – and a “huge” Dakota – with Masling – on it), and lots of student pilots and instructors.
We were shown everything, climbed in and out of aircraft (they were “aircraft” – not “planes” – we knew that !) lots of aircraft, big and small, tail dragers and “tri-cycles”.

We sat at the controls, had all the dials (instruments) explained ( most of it in one ear out the other – you understand ) red levers, blue levers, white levers, switches, lots and lots of switches, and head sets, and microphones – it was amazing.

People everywhere, all anxious to fly!!

But the lousy weather was unkind, everyone was grounded, waiting for the weather to break.  Would it, or wouldn’t it ?
No one knew.  Everyone had forecasts and weather maps.  I had never seen one before.  It had highs and lows, and a real big nasty line on it, with little triangles on the right side.  I was told it was a “cold front” and the reason the weather was so crappy.
I (innocently) asked why it did not just “bugger-off” and let us go fly, and all the “grown-ups” just started laughing.
Anyway, we moved on, more hangars, more aircraft (NOT planes), and more people, lots of people.
I Used up my two flash cubes too quickly !! ( only eight shots mind – bugga).

Then, we went outside to watch an engine “run up” on a biplane.  It was a DeHavilland Rapide.

Fascinating.

Long story short. The guys in the tower had observed us kids doing the rounds during the day, and since there was no flying, they rang up the hangar we were in at the time, and invited us up to the tower!!We could not believe it, but down to the tower we went. The door opened and after a few “rules” were laid out by the controller, up the stairs we went, in leaps and bounds!

Eventually he got to the runway, and lined up, into wind, obviously.

There was a storm many miles away, ten or more, that didn’t appear to be an immediate concern.  But it nearly got us.

Toxic in every way, chemically, commercially, financially, politically, legally, ethically, …….. lots of “lly’s”.
Too many “lly’s”.YSBK is indeed now riddled with those zillion ailments, but unlike years past, they are now real, not imaginary, and, tragically, they are incureable.Just like the ailments once beatable by antibiotics, like rampant staff infections in our hospitals, that now easily defeat the antibiotics, a situation brought about by the inappropriate and gross overuse of same by an all knowing self richeous and unaccountable medical clique, YSBK as the hospital, and GA as the patients, are being decimated by aviation’s plague of inappropriate, illogical, unreasonable, nonsensical regulations, and worse, the gross, purile, and zealously vindictive overuse of same, by another unaccountable “aviation clique” – CASA.The prognosis is grave.
GA is at death’s door.
YSBK will soon be “condemmed” as an empty graveyard, ripe for redevelopment.

One must ask.
Was that not the “game plan” from the beginning ?

Schofields, Hoxton, done and dusted.

YSBK soon ?

YSCN next ?

Perfect political subterfuge ?
Who remembers ?
Who sees ?
Who knows ?
Who cares ?
Who will write the epitath?
Will anyone bother ?
Will anyone read it, even if anyone does bother to write it ?

Senator Fawcett, Heff, or Zeno ?
Perhaps, it should really rank a Ministerial ?

The Miniscule could ask Mrdak to get Beaker to draft it for him……. perhaps….. ?

Was it not he, before he entered the ATSB, who gleefully wielded the syringe, by his own hand, that injected the infection – (sic) correction – the toxic immunisation inoculation, that is so successfully, slowly but surely destroying the hospital and turning it into a graveyard ?

Is it not also he, who as head of the ATSB, has been shown to willingly and deceptively assist the prime “aviation clique” in it’s selective and vindictive prosecution and persecution of certain GA targets, by ensuring that his supposedly ICAO compliant “independent” reports have been “spiced” with a certain flavour, most paletable to the “aviation clique” ?

After all, he knows best…… does he not ?

Surely he must ?
He is always telling the good Senators he does, does he not ?
Remember his retort to Heff’s remark about him climbing his own water tower ?

I am not a patch on Yoda.
I am more of an elephant type.
But reality is, I am now Just an old man, standing on a rise, looking down on an old control tower.

Fade to black.
The End.

{ P2 comment: Congrats ventus & a dozen chocfrogs for this effort and the nominated AP forum ‘post of the month’ award – http://auntypru.com/forum/-Airports-Buy-two-get-one-free?pid=2545#pid2545 }