Scone Memorial Airport, is a public airport in the Upper

Hunter Valley The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and so ...

, northwest of

Scone, New South Wales Scone is a town in the Upper Hunter Shire in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. At the 2006 census, Scone had a population of 5,624 people. It is on the New England Highway north of Muswellbrook about 270 kilometres north of Sydney ...

, Australia. It was built to provide a public aerodrome replacing Nandowra aerodrome on located on "Nandowra", approx. 9 km south of Scone.

History

In 1937, No. 3 Squadron RAAF aircraft, including

Hawker Demon The Hawker Hart is a British two-seater biplane light bomber aircraft that saw service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was designed during the 1920s by Sydney Camm and manufactured by Hawker Aircraft. The Hart was a prominent British aircra ...

and

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 ...

, together with an Aerodrome Defence Crew camped at Nandowra Aerodrome. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the

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

utilised Nandowra Aerodrome as an emergency landing ground. Between 1988 and 2001,

Yanda Airlines Yanda Airlines was a small regional airline that served the Hunter Region and north west New South Wales from 1988 until 2001. Following the company's demise, most of the communities Yanda served have been left without scheduled air services. ...

based an aircraft and pilots at Scone to operate commuter flights to

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 ...

via

Singleton Singleton may refer to: Sciences, technology Mathematics * Singleton (mathematics), a set with exactly one element * Singleton field, used in conformal field theory Computing * Singleton pattern, a design pattern that allows only one instance ...

and

Maitland Maitland is an English and Scottish surname. It arrived in Britain after the Norman conquest of 1066. There are two theories about its source. It is either a nickname reference to "bad temper/disposition" (Old French, ''Maltalent''; Anglo Norm ...

. The company's fleet of PA-31 aircraft were also maintained by Scone Aircraft Maintenance at the airport until Yanda's grounding by the

Civil Aviation Safety Authority The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) is the Australian national authority for the regulation of civil aviation. Although distinct from the government, it reports to the Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport. CASA is responsibl ...

Current facilities

There are currently no airlines serving Scone. The airport is home to several businesses providing a range of services. These include: Scone Aero Club, a social club and Ultralight Flight Training Facility approved to conduct

Recreational Aviation Australia Recreational Aviation Australia (abbreviated to RAA or RAAus), formerly known as the Australian Ultralight Federation (AUF), is the governing body for Ultralight aviation, ultralights in Australia. RAAus registers ultralight aircraft and issue ...

instructor training and which organised the "Warbirds Over Scone" series of Airshows in 1998, 2001 and 2003; Pay's Air Charter & Pay's Warbird Museum Airspeed Aviation, an Air Charter operator and flying school; Scone Aircraft Maintenance, an approved aircraft maintenance facility; and AirPasture, an aerial application business. In 2010, an agreement between the

Upper Hunter Shire The Upper Hunter Shire is a local government area in the Upper Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire was formed in May 2004 from the Scone Shire and parts of Murrurundi and Merriwa shires. The Mayor of the Upper Hunter Sh ...

State Government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, or ...

and local business owners secured up to $2 million in funding to update and expand the airport facilities. The upgrades include improved drainage, a runway extension and a new taxiway. The runway extension was completed by May 2011. The Upper Hunter Shire has expressed an interest in attracting commuter airline services to the upgraded airport.

Accidents and incidents

*On 31 October 1982, a de Havilland DH-82 Tiger Moth preparing for a display formation involving two other aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff and was destroyed by the post impact fire, killing both the pilot and passenger. The cause of the crash was determined to be a combination of factors attributed to pilot error.

References

External links

Scone Aero Club
{{Airports in Australia N Air transport in the Hunter Region RA-Aus Approved Flight Training Facilities Airports in New South Wales Upper Hunter Shire Airports established in 1937

History

Current facilities

Accidents and incidents

See also

References

External links