Playing the Grim Reaper.
I reckon Bankstown was buggered when 'they' took away the pilot's weather rock.
![[Image: source.gif]](https://media0.giphy.com/media/p45mW9QnaPBAc/source.gif)
Back in the day's of yore, it was a bustling, busy hub of aviation. Private aircraft in hangers, wheeled out and used on weekends; Aero Club busy before and after the bar opened; all manner of aviation being committed. Pilots everywhere annoying the engineers with fool questions, talking to the ever helpful Met-man; briefing officers and even visiting the control tower; or even the fire station. A vibrant community, with a bright future.
Slowly, but with a creeping certainty, over the decades, I've watched as the place became the graveyard we see today. This didn't happen overnight and the stalwarts put up a good fight – alas. To put a finger of blame on one element is impossible, death by a thousand cuts is more likely. But with BK under the earth movers wheels, I can't see a return to the glory days. Back when I first began as a hanger rat, a developer would have been run off the place in double quick time; now, there's not enough of a posse to propose a share of Richmond for use; and those still with interest have moved South to Wedderburn and Woolongong.
Things have changed dear Thorny, for weal or for woe. But, last time I visited BK (not too long ago) I wondered if it was not a kindness to put the poor thing out of it's misery. 0630 o'clock, mid week - and I could have shot a gun at holding points all day and hit nothing but fresh air. I believe that the selling off of our national infrastructure was a blunder of the first magnitude; for short term gain. The cost to this nation as yet undetermined, but it will be a huge bill when it is finally presented. But 'tis done now and the results are clear enough – compare Australia's pitiful 'aviation industry' to the USA and the effects of a questionable money grab are clearly apparent.
The lost tax revenue from Sydney KSA alone would pay for every council to upgrade the existing facilities. It is a big number which disappears off shore every year. A 'lucky country? Not any more; just a tired old harlot flogging her remaining assets off at a discount to pay the panderers gin bill. I think we lived through the best of it. Seems to me all the 'fun' has been ground out of the game.
The loss of the weather rock was IMO the beginning of the end.
I reckon Bankstown was buggered when 'they' took away the pilot's weather rock.
Back in the day's of yore, it was a bustling, busy hub of aviation. Private aircraft in hangers, wheeled out and used on weekends; Aero Club busy before and after the bar opened; all manner of aviation being committed. Pilots everywhere annoying the engineers with fool questions, talking to the ever helpful Met-man; briefing officers and even visiting the control tower; or even the fire station. A vibrant community, with a bright future.
Slowly, but with a creeping certainty, over the decades, I've watched as the place became the graveyard we see today. This didn't happen overnight and the stalwarts put up a good fight – alas. To put a finger of blame on one element is impossible, death by a thousand cuts is more likely. But with BK under the earth movers wheels, I can't see a return to the glory days. Back when I first began as a hanger rat, a developer would have been run off the place in double quick time; now, there's not enough of a posse to propose a share of Richmond for use; and those still with interest have moved South to Wedderburn and Woolongong.
Things have changed dear Thorny, for weal or for woe. But, last time I visited BK (not too long ago) I wondered if it was not a kindness to put the poor thing out of it's misery. 0630 o'clock, mid week - and I could have shot a gun at holding points all day and hit nothing but fresh air. I believe that the selling off of our national infrastructure was a blunder of the first magnitude; for short term gain. The cost to this nation as yet undetermined, but it will be a huge bill when it is finally presented. But 'tis done now and the results are clear enough – compare Australia's pitiful 'aviation industry' to the USA and the effects of a questionable money grab are clearly apparent.
The lost tax revenue from Sydney KSA alone would pay for every council to upgrade the existing facilities. It is a big number which disappears off shore every year. A 'lucky country? Not any more; just a tired old harlot flogging her remaining assets off at a discount to pay the panderers gin bill. I think we lived through the best of it. Seems to me all the 'fun' has been ground out of the game.
The loss of the weather rock was IMO the beginning of the end.