cptdes Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 I posted this on OZx with little interest shown except TeeCee (thanks for the reply Terry) Is there a developer here that would like to tackle Kalgoorlie Airport YPKG. One of the busiest and well known regional mining centers in Western Australia. This is where I first started my flying career way back in 1981 . I remember letting out a big yell when I did my first solo (good job the mic button was not on). Unfortunately my instructor Arthur Turner (ex Spitfire pilot WW2) was killed at Kalgoorlie while attempting a landing during a major thunder storm. ...................................................................................................................................................... He should not have been flying that night...but was on standby for the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) when one of the regular pilots "Sonny Beaumont" called in sick. Arthur stepped up to the plate, as he always did, and flew out to Warburton with the nurse on board to pick up some transfers back to Kalgoorlie Hospital. and on the return trip the weather turned nasty. The aircraft was coming back from the central desert late with 3 passengers on board just as darkness was setting in when It got "caught" over the "golden mile" with all the head frames for the mine shafts jutting up hundreds of feet into the air, Arthur was caught under the storm and the understanding is that the aircraft got turned upside down (or inverted) and as he was fighting to regain control and trying to right the aircraft he collided with one of the head frames , I was in the bedroom that night, listening to the radio, when I heard an aircraft flying very low overhead, and it appeared to be struggling, with the pilot working the throttles trying to gain height. It didn't appear as if it was on one of the usual tracks into Kal and sounded like it was trying a go around of sorts. It came overhead again and my immediate thoughts were "that does not sound too good" That was the last I heard of it until about 30mins later when there was a breaking news flash on the local radio station 6KG .... "RFDS plane crashes into gold mine head frame...all aboard killed"... Not quite correct as there was one survivor from the accident and it was a little child. Little did I know at that moment that the aviation world had just lost a wonderful pilot and I had lost also my instructor I and a few others fly in and out of Kal often, and each time the memories come back. If you can help out it would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teecee Posted September 21, 2014 Share Posted September 21, 2014 Mate I agree with you 100%. Kalgoorlie deserves better.. It is not a "big" airport, and the additional scenery (the superpit) makes it a very interesting place to fly in and out of, plus an additional good quality airport in WA is worth it's weight in gold for me. If Orbx would indicate the possibility of their doing this airport (or not) as either payware or freeware, we could approach other parties.. I will certainly back you on this venture..Teecee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarrylH Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 I remember Arthur well and flew with him through Air Cadets. Wasn't he commonly called "Alf"?...in those days he was "Mr Turner" to me, that was how we were brought up. It was actually watching him throw that old C152 Aerobat around that inspired me to get my aeros endorsement when I learned to fly 20 years later. There was very little he could not do with an aeroplane. Interestingly enough when I did learn to fly (in the South West) my instructor was the son of one of those killed and who went along just for the ride that night in the right hand seat. Small world. I'd love to see Kal done in more detail...even if it is a completely different airport to the one I spent hours siting at watching the action. I also flew a few times with the infamous Father Ted (of Canning Weir fame) D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cptdes Posted September 22, 2014 Author Share Posted September 22, 2014 I also flew a few times with the infamous Father Ted (of Canning Weir fame) D Darryl, So you flew with the infamous Father Ted... :lol: Good job you were not with him when he ran out of fuel on a trip to Perth and put it down into the dam : He once told me he learn"t to fly as he wanted to be nearer God Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarrylH Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Yes, "nearer to God". In point of fact flying WAS as close to God as Ted ever got I suspect As I recall Fth Hynes from Boulder parish, who was about 180 not out, was with Ted when he went down in Canning Weir. Ted related the story of how he had reassured the aged Father that he had "had a good innings" as they went in to force land... I vividly remember once with him there were 4 of us kids in a 172 (we were 12 or 13 I guess at the time...) I was in the right seat and we had a good camera as we were going to get some air photos of the Poppets. On take off he asked me to hand it backwards to get it out of the way of the column. I sent it back to John (in the middle, non existent, no belt, seat). Ted's horrified comment, and I swear this is true...."For Chr*t's sake don't give it to him, if we crash on takeoff it'll go through the front window with him!!" I don't know if you remember but Ted subsequently left the Priesthood after a "wardrobe malfunction" with a female pedestrian in a Perth park! Ah, Kalgoorlie in the 70's................... Darryl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teecee Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Nice to read all these memories..As an "Oldie" I tend to dwell a little on the past, and thank God that I am not a youngster now..I would not swap my memories for all the tea in China. Teecee. Just out of interest.. those of you that enjoy reminiscing about the old days might not have read this..it still cracks me up even though it's been around for ages.. http://hotcopper.com.au/threads/a-letter-from-an-aussie-cattle-station-pilot.2183130/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarrylH Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Great stuff Teecee! I know what you mean about not trading memories etc for youth. As I said to my wife just the other day : 20 year old blondes are extremely tempting..but sooner or later they open their mouths...and the spell is instantly broken I guess every generation shakes it's head at the younger ones. Darryl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stillwater Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Nice to read all these memories..As an "Oldie" I tend to dwell a little on the past, and thank God that I am not a youngster now..I would not swap my memories for all the tea in China. Teecee. Just out of interest.. those of you that enjoy reminiscing about the old days might not have read this..it still cracks me up even though it's been around for ages.. http://hotcopper.com.au/threads/a-letter-from-an-aussie-cattle-station-pilot.2183130/ Great stuff Terry, laughed a lot! Plus, I enjoyed reading the memories, even be it tragic ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cptdes Posted September 23, 2014 Author Share Posted September 23, 2014 Seems as if this thread is starting to die out. I would have thought at least one of the talented developers here, like Jarrad Marshall (who I knew years ago with Westsim Design) might have chipped in seeing as he is also a "local" boy and knows the significance of Kalgoorlie as a major regional airport. We have YCUN, which is great (thanks Jarrad)...YBLN which is a tiny airport of no significance at all in the scheme of things... and everything else in Western Australia is very basic.....Why fly from Perth to YCUN and not be able to go any further with ORBX...surely Kalgoorlie would be the next logical step even if the flight ended there. Kalgoorlie is a Major part of Australian History and should be recognised as such even here in Flight/sim Don't mean to go on here, but Western Australia has been left in the dark for too long as far as scenery is concerned... and I am sure there are many that would agree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarrylH Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 Mate Sounds like you dont have the Ozx stuff...bundles of WA in there. PM me if you like. Darryl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teecee Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 As one that helped to cause this thread to go "off track" I apologize Des, and I do agree with your thoughts and feelings about Kalgoorlie and in fact all of WA.. Sadly, Orbx seems to have become totally worldwide now, and for us Aussies it leaves a hard space to fill.. I can think of no other groups other than Orbx and Oziex that do quality Australian work, so we are at the mercy of what is commercially viable.. There are a couple of local developers that have done good work here in the past, but sadly the two I have in mind do not appear to have got beyond creating scenery for the older sims. perhaps there is a niche market here that some smaller developer will pick up? I certainly hope so, because I for one would be happy to pay for additional strips in WA.. Teecee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cptdes Posted September 23, 2014 Author Share Posted September 23, 2014 Mate Sounds like you dont have the Ozx stuff...bundles of WA in there. PM me if you like. Darryl Darryl I do have the OZx you are referring to and they have done a wonderful job in the far flung regional area's and the tiny "bush strips"...but I an talking here about a "Major Regional center" that is missing from W.A. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarrad Marshall Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 G'day Gents, Kalgoorlie.. Karratha, Port Hedland... all airports I would love to do. The big hurdle from my point of view is though, that as much as I would love to make more local airports (and as often as I see topics along the lines of "how 'bout more WA airports?") unfortunately they just aren't supported by local customers as much as airports done for other regions. And whilst it is true that most Australian airports were done in the earlier years of ORBX, I should point out that one of my most recent airports was Broome International (link here), only a little over a year old and certainly representative of current cutting-edge ORBX development techniques. Whilst there were a myriad of reasons why I decided to do this airport, the overriding desire on my part was to go back to an Australian project after a couple of years of most of the team (including myself) solely working on US/UK/NZ airports. Honestly, it hasn't sold quite as many copies as some of the US airports I've done, and whilst that certainly isn't a problem, it does make sense to choose projects that will get the best return for the considerable time investment. So whilst I always enormously appreciate everyone's support for whatever products they choose to buy, in answer to the question put forward - if I can see more copies of Broome sold, then it will be much easier to make a decision to do a Kalgoorlie-style project. My strong interest, available resources, availability to get photos are all there in spades, it just doesn't stack up financially to move ahead with it at the moment. I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news, this is just my honest opinion. Cheers, Jarrad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallard Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 Jarrad - if you made Port Headland or Karratha we would have more enhanced/payware places to fly to from Broome instead of just Darwin That is the only real drawback of YBRM for me... Everything else is so bl*%dy far away. Cheers Mallard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teecee Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 Thanks Jarrad.. You more or less reinforce my previous comments.. So people, It certainly appears that if we want places such as Kalgoorlie et al, we are going to have to get someone with the necessary skills to do the job or learn to "do it our selves" which for me is not an option, I am simply devoid of and too old to learn the skills.. As I said earlier, there are a couple of people that we could approach re this, but to be honest it is so long since the produced anything I have my doubts that they would be interested. To sum up.. unless someone steps up to the crease, we are "stuffed". Teecee. Mallard.. Don't forget Newman and Broken Hill.. Both very active and important airports in the great outback.. because you put your finger right on the problem.. The distances between decent airports are just too bloody great, particularly for low and slow pilots such as me. Teecee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarrad Marshall Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 Jarrad - if you made Port Headland or Karratha we would have more enhanced/payware places to fly to from Broome instead of just Darwin That is the only real drawback of YBRM for me... Everything else is so bl*%dy far away. Cheers Mallard Absolutely agree with you Mallard, however unfortunately it's the same risk with doing all regional airports in WA. Karratha/Port Hedland is the only regional-sized airport combo in the state less than 250km apart - Karratha to Broome is still a good distance at 650km. There are plenty of excellent airports done in various releases of OZx a bit closer to Broome (Cape Leveque just up the road, Fitzroy Crossing, Wyndham, Warman, Argyle and others), however these obviously don't cater to the larger jets. Again, I'd love to do more Western Australian airports, it's just hard to take the plunge for 3-5 months worth of development time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cptdes Posted September 23, 2014 Author Share Posted September 23, 2014 Jarrad - if you made Port Headland or Karratha we would have more enhanced/payware places to fly to from Broome instead of just Darwin That is the only real drawback of YBRM for me... Everything else is so bl*%dy far away. Cheers Mallard Mallard, I agree entirely...in reality there is just nowhere to fly to/from in W.A. using ORBX. Would I fly YCUN to Broome with nothing along the way...NO . Would I fly the same route If I called in at YCAR or YGEL or YPLM and YPPD YES...YES and I would pay for the privilege Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallard Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 Again, I'd love to do more Western Australian airports, it's just hard to take the plunge for 3-5 months worth of development time. Guess I'll have to flood the community screenshot-forum with some Broome pics to whet the appetite of potential customers Cheers Mallard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dominique Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 First let's be clear I never ever heard of Klagoolrie before and i aint going to settle a dispute between Aussies but as customer who flies AU a lot with GA or warbirds aircraft I see a significant difference between this airport and Broome. Jarrad's Broome is beautiful on screenshots and trailers but, as a GA guy, where do I fly to or from ? Cape Leveque has a nice OzX strip, Wolfe Crater is worth a flight. Then what ? The hinterland gets a a little boring fast, the other airports around are default. This is a jet jockey airport. Klagoorlie, on the other hand, has the large Perth region with several OrbX and OzX airports and a more varied landscape at less than to 400 nm. Thats why I bought YBAS which is also in the middle of nowhere, because of the trove of remarkably well done OzX desert srtps all around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarrad Marshall Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 G'day again, Dom, Des, Terry - all very valid points... Kalgoorlie would be a great project with plenty of interesting elements, even within the airport itself some of the old hangars down the GAS/RFDS end have a lot of character. If anyone feels like taking it on over at OzX or elsewhere, let me know as I do have a bunch of reference photos ready to go. Cheers, Jarrad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teecee Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Thanks Jarrad..I/we realize that your hands are tied on this, and I believe that the whole purpose of this thread was to hopefully stir someone, anyone, to start looking at Aus once more.. I realize that Aus is no longer a money spinner, and I also realize how lucky we were to ever get Orbx to develop it's company right here. That said, we can keep on pushing for some developer to see a niche market here. There are still a few people out there doing Stirling work, and we see one or two great sceneries popping up now and then.. the latest at Oziex, Horn island, and the Torres Strait islands are prime examples.. and whilst folk like John M, Mike Burbridge and Elias Smith are producing such good scenery, there is still hope . Teecee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek McAllan Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 Oi, Jarrad... Off topic, but some silly bugger's gone and awarded me with an AEF Instructor's rating... if you're ever keen on doing some sightseeing around good old YCUN, I'm happy to take you up for a spin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreaD Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 I, for one, would LOVE to see Kalgoorlie. I visited there exactly 30 years ago, in September 1984. One of the most peculiar places I've ever seen, and at night, a sky that I will never forget. Andrea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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