Biggest air armada to take to the skies By Geoffrey Thomas THOUSANDS of Perth people will gaze skyward on December 13 when more than 190 aircraft take part in the biggest flypast seen in WA to commemorate 100 years of flight. The sky will be alive with the sights and sounds of virtually every type of aircraft in WA - commercial, military and executive jets, turboprops and piston-engine aircraft, vintage, ultra-modern and ultralight. Some of WA's great aviation personalities will be in the air, including Barry Markham, who flew his Tiger Moth from Perth to England, and his brother John who has restored a magnificent Fox Moth. Skippers' Aviation will fly six of its passenger aircraft, National Jet Systems will fly one of its four-engine jets while Skywest will showcase its Fokker 100 and a Fokker 50. The participating aircraft will form up over Cockburn Sound between 2pm and 3pm and will be vectored over Fremantle at 1500 feet and will then descend to 700 feet over Pt Walter and fly up the river at that height past Kings Park and the city before climbing back to 1500 feet over Heirisson Island. Military aircraft from RAAF Pearce and most civil aircraft from Perth Airport will be vectored separately, probably north of Fremantle off the coast, and slotted into the flypast. Air traffic control for the event will be co-ordinated from the top of the BankWest Tower and there will be a commentary on a special FM frequency from either Perth or Jandakot. December 17 is the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers' first flight at Kittyhawk, North Carolina. According to organiser Malcolm Yeo, aviation course co-ordinator at Edith Cowan University, there are still slots available for any pilot to join the cavalcade of flight. "Pilots need to contact us urgently to be part of the event," he said. Mr Yeo, who started aviation courses in WA schools and universities, said there had been great co-operation from all authorities, particularly Jandakot Airport. According to Mr Yeo, the flypast will take almost 90 minutes and the organisers are hoping to also have departing commercial jets perform a flypast of the city. Not heavy metal but heavy in history will be John Markham's 70-year-old Fox Moth, which has been restored to pristine condition. The Fox Moth has had an extraordinary history, having survived a cyclone in Port Hedland, flown a passenger service to the Shetland Islands off Britain in 1933 and carried hundreds of sick patients for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
