Historic Aussie Airport Threatened

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What its supporters say is the oldest continuously operating military air base in the world could become condos and cul-de-sacs soon. Point Cook Airfield, in Melbourne, Australia, was where the Royal Australian Air Force was born in 1913 and it operated as a training base until 1992. An earlier attempt by the Australian government to sell it off as surplus real estate was blocked by public outrage, but that didn’t discourage the cash-hungry bureaucrats. A new plan is on the table that would retain a small portion of the airport as a heritage site but sell off the majority of the prime real estate. Aviation fans down under are having none of it. A petition is being circulated by the Point Cook Airfield Preservation Group and individuals are being urged to contact their members of Parliament and the Prime Minister to stop the deal-making. “I encourage all Australian aviation enthusiasts to become involved in this campaign,” wrote the group’s secretary, Mark Pilkington, in a plea to the flying community there. He said it’s particularly galling that the government wants to sell off the airport while aviators are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ first flight.

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