Aerial-view-of-spotswood-pumping-station-lower-yarra-river-fishermens-bend-victoria-circa-1954-662129-large

Fishermen's Bend Aerodrome was located at Fishermen's Bend,

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Victoria, Australia Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in ...

between 1921 and 1967. An aerodrome at Fisherman's Bend was mentioned in reportage of an air disaster in 1921. Beginning in 1940, the aerodrome served the Australian Government's

Government Aircraft Factories Government Aircraft Factories (GAF) was the name of an aircraft manufacturer owned by the Government of Australia. The primary factory was located at Fishermans Bend, a suburb of Melbourne in Victoria. It had its origins in the lead-up to Worl ...

and the

Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation The Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) was an Australian aircraft manufacturer. The CAC was established in 1936, to provide Australia with the capability to produce military aircraft and engines. History In 1935 the Chief General Manager ...

plants. It was a prominent facility during the Second World War but the value of locating such a facility so close to the city, industry and shipping was called into question soon after the end of the war. In 1947 W. McIlroy, Secretary for Lands, wrote to Premier

Thomas Hollway Thomas Tuke Hollway (2 October 1906 – 30 July 1971) was the 36th Premier of Victoria, and the first to be born in the 20th century. He held office from 1947 to 1950, and again for a short period in 1952. He was originally a member and the lead ...

indicating that, in his opinion, it was time to cease prevarication between the Commonwealth (which continued to push to extend what was now referred to as the 'Landing and Testing Field' at Fishermens Bend) and State authorities. McIlroy wrote: The Laverton Air Base,

RAAF Williams RAAF Williams is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) military air base set across two locations, at Point Cook and Laverton, located approximately south-west of the Melbourne central business district in Victoria, Australia. Both establishm ...

, had been operative since 1925.

Avalon Airport Avalon Airport is an international airport located in Avalon in the City of Greater Geelong in Victoria, Australia. While located outside the Melbourne metropolitan area, it is the second busiest of the four airports serving the state cap ...

was opened in 1953, to cater for the production of jet military aircraft. In 1959, James Grant of Grant's Helicopters wrote to the Minister for Lands, K. H. Turnbull, applying to lease 'some available block of between ten and twenty acres on Fishermens Bend for the purposes of a helicopter port and training school.' Grant had learned that 'some 114 acres of Fishermen's Bend is now available for leasing, being no longer required by the Department of Supply of the Commonwealth Aircraft Corp.' It appears this request was not successful. At least one of the runways of the Fishermen's Bend Aerodrome were still in use in 1967, leased to the Department of Supply which 'conducted flying operations from it'. A charter operator, Jack Ellis of City Centre Air Taxis, was hopeful of running country air services to and from the facility. However, a portion of the airstrip was on land required for what was to become the Westgate Freeway, and

Rupert Hamer Sir Rupert James Hamer, (29 July 1916 – 23 March 2004), generally known until he was knighted in 1982 as Dick Hamer, was an Australian Liberal Party politician who served as the 39th Premier of Victoria from 1972 to 1981. Early years Hamer ...

, Minister for Local Government,resisted calls to keep the airstrip open.

Motorsport

The airfield was used for motorcycle races in August 1948 then cars from 1949. It hosted events counting towards the

Australian Drivers' Championship The Australian Drivers' Championship was a motor racing championship contested annually from 1957 to 2014 by drivers of cars complying with Australia's premier open-wheeler racing category as determined by the Confederation of Australian Motor ...

in both

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

and

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

. and races were held at the circuit until at least 1960. Subsequently the airstrip was used for organised drag racing until 1966Len Shaw, 'The Seven-Second Thrill' Melbourne ''Age'' 8 June 1968 p. 16 at which time AA class fuellers raced along with funny cars in times approaching 10 secs for the 1/4 mile track.

The site today

Much of the land on which the Aerodrome was located is now the site of Westgate Park. Todd Road is essentially to the alignment of the north-south runway.

Notes

References

*Dennis, Peter; Grey, Jeffrey; Morris, Ewan; and Robin Prior (1995). ''The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History''. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. . Defunct airports in Victoria (state) {{VictoriaAU-struct-stub