Maylands Airport (also known as Maylands Aerodrome, Maylands Airfield) on the Maylands Peninsula, in

Maylands, Western Australia Maylands is a riverside inner-city suburb approximately northeast of Perth centred on the Midland railway line on the northern bank of the Swan River. The suburb was developed during the 1890s and is an administrative locality within the Ci ...

, was the main landing place of a significant number of record breaking flights in the early stages of flight in Australia. It was

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

's first official airport and was the birthplace of commercial aviation in Western Australia.

History

In 1923, the Commonwealth acquired a site on a bend of the Swan River at Maylands for the construction of Perth's first permanent

aerodrome An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...

. The Maylands aerodrome opened in 1924 and

West Australian Airways West Australian Airways was an Australian airline based in Geraldton, Western Australia. Established on 5 December 1921 as Western Australian Airways by World War I pilot Norman Brearley, it was the first airline in Australia to establish a sche ...

immediately moved its

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

from Langley Park to the new site and commenced building another larger hangar. Other tenants included MacRobertson Miller Aviation Company, Airlines (WA) Ltd and the Royal Aero Club of Western Australia.

Charles Kingsford Smith Sir Charles Edward Kingsford Smith (9 February 18978 November 1935), nicknamed Smithy, was an Australian aviation pioneer. He piloted the first transpacific flight and the first flight between Australia and New Zealand. Kingsford Smith was b ...

landed at Maylands to complete the first non-stop flight across Australia. On 8 August 1928, the ''

Southern Cross Crux () is a constellation of the southern sky that is centred on four bright stars in a cross-shaped asterism commonly known as the Southern Cross. It lies on the southern end of the Milky Way's visible band. The name ''Crux'' is Latin for c ...

'' took off from

Point Cook Point Cook is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Wyndham local government area. Point Cook recorded a population of 66,781 at the 2021 census. Point Cook ...

near

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 ...

and set course for Perth, a distance of over . Competitors in the

Western Australian Centenary Air Race __NOTOC__ The Western Australian Centenary Air Race (also known as the East-West Air Race) was a air race held in 1929 from Sydney to Perth to commemorate the centenary of Western Australia. The £1000 handicap winner was Horrie Miller and th ...

from

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

to Perth finished the race at Maylands Airport on Sunday 7 October 1929. During World War II the Maylands Airfield was requisitioned by the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

(RAAF). From February 1942, it was also used by the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

for refuelling and aircraft ferrying purposes. Between 6 April 1942 and 5 August 1943, No. 35 Squadron, flying

Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) a ...

s, was based at Maylands to transport supplies and passengers to Allied units throughout Western Australia, as well as supporting the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. By the end of the 1930s, it became clear that the Maylands Aerodrome was limited in the size and speed of aircraft it was able to handle thus causing the Government to seek an alternative site for a future airport, with land being purchased at Guildford. The

Perth Airport Perth Airport is an international, domestic and general aviation airport serving Perth, the capital city of Western Australia. It is the fourth busiest airport in Australia measured by passenger movements and falls within the boundaries of ...

was initially used as a military airfield during the Second World War, but soon afterward it became the main airport for Perth. Maylands continued as a base for

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

operations, but the aerodrome was too small and the circuit conflicted with nearby Perth/Guildford. By the end of the 1950s,

Department of Civil Aviation A civil aviation authority (CAA) is a national or supranational statutory authority that oversees the regulation of civil aviation, including the maintenance of an aircraft register. Role Due to the inherent dangers in the use of flight vehicles, ...

decided that Maylands should be closed and ordered all the tenants to move. The Royal Aero Club of Western Australia left Maylands on 23 April 1959 and set up operations at Perth/

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

pending the opening of the new general aviation airport at Jandakot. The opening of

Jandakot Airport Jandakot Airport is a general aviation (GA) airport located in Jandakot, Western Australia, about south-southwest of the "general aviation area of the Airport West precinct" at Perth Airport. Jandakot airport opened in 1963. From 1 July 1998 ...

in 1963 allowed Maylands to be finally closed to all operations on 30 June 1963.

Current

The remaining corrugated iron and weatherboard buildings now lie within the bounds of land currently in use by

Western Australian Police The Western Australia Police Force, colloquially WAPOL, provides police services throughout the state of Western Australia, an area of 2.5 million square kilometres, the world's largest non-federated area of jurisdiction, with a population ...

, and housed the Police Academy until 2002 when it was moved to a new facility in the suburb of

Joondalup Joondalup () is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, approximately north of Perth's central business district. It contains the central business district of the regional City of Joondalup and acts as the primary urban centre of Perth's outer ...

. Several of the surviving hangars from the aerodrome are included on the state's Register of Heritage Places. Some of the remaining area of the airport has now been developed as a public golf course.

References

External links

Maylands Aerodrome, Perth, Western Australia

/small> – compiled by Geoff Goodall {{Authority control Maylands, Western Australia World War II airfields in Australia Defunct airports in Western Australia State Register of Heritage Places in the City of Bayswater Airports established in 1924 1924 establishments in Australia

History

Current

See also

References

External links