SERPENTINE 2022

Written by Mick Harcourt

For longer than I can remember, the SAAA & SABC have had a celebration of aviation at their Serpentine Airfield base in Hopelands, not too far south of Jandakot. In years gone by this “fly-in” was preceded by a Langley Park, Perth City flying event that saw up to 130 aircraft land at that historic venue, but alas, in more recent times this has not been possible and so the focus is on a Flying Event of a grand scale.

Sunday 23rd September was set for the date and the members at Serpentine made ready their airfield to accept not only aircraft arriving, but also a plethora of diverse attendees – these included vintage car clubs featuring MGTCs, MGBs, MGAs, and a steam engine club with many of their working models. There was a coffee van onsite, raffles, representation from the RAAFA Museum selling models, books and a whole variety of sandwiches and cool drinks available inside the Clubhouse. Altogether set for a great day!

I elected to fly Tiger Moth VH-FAS from Jandakot to Serpentine with a passenger and in quite calm conditions arrived for not only a full stop landing on RWY 05, but was marshalled into a “prime” parking spot, alongside some much more modern aircraft, in full view of the general public. No sooner had we vacated the aircraft when people were showing lots of interest in the old girl with lots of questions about her history etcetera, the most common one being “How fast does it go?”. I left my PAX, an ex-RAAF officer, to extoll the virtues of wind in the wires flying!

From a flying point of view, there were aircraft coming and going all morning. I couldn’t tell the numbers but they seemed a little down on previous years, possibly due to the forecast for later in the day, which came into play, but more of that later. Walking up and down the strip, however, there were a variety of aircraft that probably would not been seen anywhere else in WA. A quick visit to the Clubhouse and $5 bought a sandwich with another dollar for a cup of tea – excellent value and all prepared by members and their partners to show just how a club like this functions in these modern times of rules, regulations and restrictions.

There were several pilots expecting to do some local flying and they were briefed about what was expected of them, what safety protocols were in place and every conceivable scenario concerning aviation and flying. Then followed the Formation Flying, Aerobatics, Circuits and demonstrations of various aircraft and their pilot’s ability to perform many maneuvers.

Just after midday a few spots of rain were felt and though there were a few clouds around, nothing ominous was expected. We continued to enjoy the day until someone played the Jandakot ATIS and it almost sounded as though YPJT would be closing soon due to incoming weather, so a few aircraft started up and taxied for take-off, for a return to YPJT. “Hmmm maybe”, I thought to myself, “I should do the same” so I gathered my passenger, got a prop swing and started to taxi for departure. One of the YPJT bound aircraft was returning saying (on the radio) that there was just a wall of rain across the entries to Jandakot, decision made - I taxied back and parked up!

Unfortunately, the rain increased at our location also and knowing that I wouldn’t be able to fly out that day, I asked around to see if there was any hangar space available to park the aircraft overnight and luckily, I was offered space by one of the members, who’s second aircraft was at Jandakot!

By the time I got the aircraft bedded down most of the public had vacated and aircraft were put away. I was lucky RACWA members Mark and Louise Kemp kindly offered to drive me back to Jandakot to pick up my car! The next day, Vaughan Emery and myself got a lift to Serpentine to pick up both of our aircraft and return to Jandakot that afternoon.

Serpentine Flying Day, always worth a visit to network with other people as much as to enjoy the spectacle of the day!