Sunshine
Coast Airport History
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HIGH
EXPECTATIONS in the Early Days:
To fully understand the current issues
surrounding
the proposed East/West Runway and Airport Noise you need to know a
little
of its past history;
The airstrip was built in early 1959 by Pacific Paradise Development
Pty.
Ltd. in connection with the development of the town of Pacific
Paradise.
Later, the Maroochy Shire Council took interest in the airstrip, which
the State and Federal Governments decided to develop as the Maroochy
Airport
and it was officially opened as such on 12th.
August
1961
This development at a cost of $224,000 was hailed by Mr. D. A.
Low
who was then shire chairman as ushering in a new era for fruit and
vegetable
industry and a magnificent boost to the tourist industry.
But by 1970 the Airport had turned into what was then described by the
then maroochy shire chairman Cr. E. O. DeVere
as A
WHITE
ELEPHANT.
However Council still spent more money extending the northern
end
of runway 18/36 by an extra 450 ft. in an effort to attract interest
from
the commercial airlines.
Ironically it was a company called East-West
Airlines
which heralded in the new era for the aerodrome by commencing a weekly
direct flight to Sydney in December 1970
A year later, East-West was operating a bi-weekly service to
Sydney
on Wednesdays and Saturdays and Council budgeted a further $29.000 to extend
the 18/36 runway a further 1000 ft to the north.
This made a total strip length of 5500 feet which was then capable of
accommodating
a fully loaded Fokker Friendship with 44 passengers on board.
In the late
70's, East-West were crowded out by Air NSW and Ansett, as the
numbers
of Fokker Friendship services escalated
We now also had daily Metro Commuter Services to Brisbane and for
the first time we became aware of the noise from these aircraft.
Flying
Schools are
arguably
the VERY WORST industry to have anywhere near a residential development.
But in the early 80's,
Council considered them to be nice clean non-pollutant industries and
encouraged
the first of the Flying Schools to commence operations.
Obviously
at that time, never considering noise as being a pollutant.
However, the 1998
Noise
Management Report goes into great detail to describe the effects
aircraft
noise has on people.
Appendix D explains
the ANEF (Australian Noise Exposure
Forecast)
System, but in laymans terms it is simply a combination of; Loudness,
Frequency and Time.
The Loudness
Factor is obvious, and Aircraft Engines are notoriously LOUD.
The Frequency
Factor - Repeditative noise events are more disturbing than one
single
very LOUD event.
The Time
Factor - The time of day a noise occurs relates to its IMPACT,
in
as much as 1 nighttime event is equivalent to 4 in the daytime.
The very nature of
Pilot
training combines all 3 to make it the No.1
Problem
today.
The main aim is to
practice
the most critical and dangerous aspects of flying, over and over again
- ie. Takeoff and Landing.
This is carried out
during circuit training by the student performing as many "Touch-and-Goes"in
his hourly lesson as possible.
One circuit takes just
under 4 minutes.
And when there are 3
students we have 1 minute intervals between overflights.
The noise of one
barely
fading before the next approaches. (Like a
Chinese
water torture) and more students means the
duration
is lengthened to 2 or 3 hours.
Now we had
3 flying
schools, not counting helicopters
Fogarty alone has 15 aircraft with an average of 12 students at any one
time amounting to 4500 hours flying time in 1996.
Suncoast Flying and Aviation Academy of Qld account for another 8
aircraft
and another 6 students at any one time
This then is the frequency factor
referred
to in the above ANEF System.
And when these students do NIGHT TRAINING the time
factor is also introduced
Then we have the EFATO maneuver (Engine
Failure After Take Off) which the advanced
students
practice by cutting the throttle after take-off (or a touch-and-go) to
simulate engine failure, and gliding down silently over residential
areas
whilst the student practices the correct procedures for this event,
until
the instructor declares to "go-around". -- At which time the throttle
is
slammed open, generally only feet above our roof tops, and the student
resumes normal flying.
This then is the loudness factor of the
ANEF
system.
And when they combined EFATO's with Night Flying back in 1988, the
situation
became UNBEARABLE
The flying schools of course were very sympathetic and told us that "they
were here first", and "We
should not have built our homes near the airport if we couldn't take a
bit of noise" --
And it was not until 8th. March 1993 (5
years of hell for us.) that the 3 schools of the time agreed to a Gentlemans
Agrement to Limit these operations over residential areas.
14th.
Dec. 1995 --The Daily's Headlines "TOP
GUN SCHOOL SEEKS CLEARANCE"
This was the first and only announcement to the local residents
that Council was actively courting the Largest
Flying
School in the Southern Hemisphere to relocate from Sydney to the
Sunshine Coast.
There were moves afoot to downgrade safety standards yet again
to
allow
"Navair" to commence operations here
with an extra 35 training aircraft.
It was only after much criticism in the press by residents about the
proposed
downgrade from a Class C to a Class D Separation
Standard, that Council changed it's mind and Navair decided NOT
to proceed with this venture.
THANK GOD !
But then Sunstate (Qantas) and other larger companies were
looking to use
this
airport for their own pilot training areas, and they had no intention
of being bound by any silly little Gentlemans Agreement as above to
hamper
their operations.
Back to Top
In
1982 - Council
commissioned
the first ever Master Plan
to investigate
the
introduction of the F28 Jet services to the Airport
- It gave the Council
2 options;
1.
Upgrade the 18/36 runway for $9.8M or
2.
Construct the 13/31 Runway (And all its associated infrastructure,
terminal,
parking etc.) for $10.3M.
The bottom line of
which
stated "...the East/West runway was
inevitable
at sometime in the future". -- And they recommended
construction
of 13/31 as the preferred option.
Unfortunately for us ALL, -- Council, with no public consultation
what-so
ever made the wrong decision and saved a whole $500,000.
History has now proved how this short term SAVING has been the root
cause
of all the present problems.
The cost of a Feasibility Study alone is now
TWICE
the extra cost it would have been to construct the whole project back
in
1983.
Back to Top
Then
on 9th. April 1984 -- The WHISPER
JETs were introduced.
Although the F28s were
probably the noisiest aircraft in the sky at that time, our Council (In
collusion with the Local Newspapers.) tried to con us into accepting
these
MONSTERS by announcing as headlines in the Sunshine Coast Daily.......
"The Whisper Jets
are coming".
From here on,
conditions
deteriorated rapidly for the local residents around the airport precinct
The combination of
ever
increasing Whisper Jet services and the growth of the Flying Schools
saw
the end of our Peace and Quiet.
NOISE HAD BECOME A
PROBLEM
And we were repeatedly
told -- "It was all our own fault."-- "The
airport
was here first." -- "We should never have built here." -- "We have no
right
to complain" and "If we don't like it MOVE !"
Meanwhile --
Council
continued to throw good money after bad in upgrading the North/South
runway.
1985-
The New control tower was built.
1990
-
A New terminal was opened
1993
- Runway 18/36 again strengthened to cater for larger aircraft.
1995
- RPT Apron extended to accommodate 4 x B737 parking bays
1995
- New taxiway constructed to runway 18/36 and Runway 12/30 was sealed.
1997
and The Latest new terminal of 5200sq.m was opened to cater for 3 x
B737s /hour.
1998
- Yet Another Airport Master Plan was unveiled.
Since the
FIRST
Airport
Master Plan in 1982 there had now been some 21 similar reports. (The
only ones who have benefited from these reports are the Authors.)
And they all say THE
SAME THING. -- We NEED an East West Runway.
But
Council still continues to ignore them and waste more money trying to
patch
up the original 1983 mistake.
The sad thing about
this Dog chasing its Tail scenario is that the $1/2M saved back in 1983
now will cost some $25M.
And by 2020, what ? $100M
?
(UPDATE 2006 - Make that 22 Reports and Actually it's $100M
Right NOW
and that doesn't include the cost of
having to build a Tunnel to divert the Sunshine Motorway out of the
way. Now how Short-Sighted is THAT?
- So by 2020 the cost will be
ASTRONOMICAL!!!!)
(UPDATE
2008 - The above Prediction was unfortunately all too
correct.
Now we have a New Super Council in control of the Airport and they STILL can't resolve this ongoing
problem)
With the forced amalgamation of;
Maroochy, Noosa and Caloundra Councils into The SUNSHINE COAST REGIONAL
COUNCIL one would hope that with their combined resources they could at
last make a start on correcting this 1984 mistake and commence work on
the long overdue East/West Runway, but once again all we are hearing
are excuses about how it is too expensive and how they will have to
flog-off half the Airport to Private Enterprise. What hope will the
Local Residents have when THAT happens?
Based on the Cost
Increase over the last 26 years (1982=$10.3M to 2008=$250M) we can guestimate the
cost when Council and its Private Enterprise Partner are planning to
commence construction, sometime in the year 2020 to be around $600BILLION.
Hey! Guess what the EXCUSE for NOT
building an E/W Runway will be THEN?
YET ANOTHER OBSTACLE
At sometime during the 25 year period between 1982 to 2008,
whilst Council was procrastinating about saving a few dollars instead
of actually doing something,
some little Bureaucrat in Brisbane has looked at a map and decided that
the Peat Swamp to the North-West of the existing Airport Reserve
should be preserved for future generations, and, with a wave of his
Magic Pen, changed its official designation from Crown Land
to National
Park.
This is the same land which was considered to be too poor to be
utilized for sugar cane production and which actually caught fire back in December
1991 and smoldered for weeks because of the underground peat.
Now suddenly some ultra-conservative conservationist has decided that
it's the breading ground for a rare endangered swamp flea and possibly
the home of the horny backed swamp toad which feeds upon it.
And, of course, National Parkland is SACRED and cannot possibly be
re-classified for a mere STATE-SIGNIFICANT
AIRPORT.
 |
The National Park on Fire in 1991,
Before it became a National Park
|
|
The Newly Acclaimed National
Park
which is preventing the S.C.Airport
from building an E/W Runway in its
Ideal Location
|
OBVIOUSLY - Either this Airport
or
the Residential Communities should NOT be here.
The 2006 Master Plan
showed that it violated almost every safety rule in CASSA's book.
And now there are
rumors
about further safety standards being relaxed
yet again to
permit
Direct International Services.
So - What HORRORS has the New S.C.R.C. have in store for us
NOW?
I cannot now see the
mythical East/West Runway EVER being built.
-- And why bother ?
With Brisbane
International
only minutes away by commuter, why waste money trying to
compete
with them?
The TOURISTS will still come here via Brisbane.............UNFORTUNATELY
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