Aircraft lined up at the Sport Aircraft Builders Club (SABC) Annual Fly-In, Serpentine Airfield - 5 November 2017. Photo © David Eyre. — Aircraft lined up at the Sport Aircraft Builders Club (SABC) Annual Fly-In, Serpentine Airfield – 5 November 2017. Photo © David Eyre.

The Sport Aircraft Builders Club of WA Inc (SABC) hosted its Annual Fly-In at the SABC’s airfield at Serpentine Airfield, about an hour’s drive south of Perth, WA, on Sunday 5 November 2017.

The event is usually scheduled annually on the last Sunday in September – this year’s fell on 24 September 2017, but bad weather caused the fly-in to be postponed.

Many aircraft on display were built or restored at Serpentine, and this free event is an opportunity for SABC members to show the public the results of their many hours of effort in building or restoring aircraft. A number of aircraft also flew in from other areas of Western Australia.

Weather was clear blue skies and the number of participating aircraft was better than the 2016 Fly-in.

This is not an air display, but a number of pilots flew formation fly pasts, including:

a formation of four Tiger Moths;
a Victa Airtourer and a Robinson R22 helicopter
four-aircraft formation including Yakovlev Yak-18, CT4A Airtrainer, Vans RV-6A and NZAI CT/4A Airtrainer
two De Havilland DHC-1 Chipmunks.

Frank Smit flew his 1954 Yakovlev Yak-18 in Soviet DOSAAF markings (VH-OOZ) and Trojan VH-KAN / 140016 also impressed the visitors.

There were also modern aircraft including the Aero Designs Pulsar, Fly Synthesis Storch, Australian-designed LightWing and Jabiru, Italian-designed Tecnam P92 Echo and Technam P2002 Sierra, Vans RV7A and RV10.

To promote aviation to a wider range of visitors, SABC invites car and motorcycle clubs – this year there were a MG and Corvette car clubs. Miniature steam traction engines also entertained visitors, especially children.

The hangars always contain surprises with different aircraft starting or completing construction or restoration. As always, SABC members were happy to discuss their aircraft.

Sport Aircraft Builders Club of WA Inc (SABC)

The SABC was established in 1973 by a small group of members of the Sport Aircraft Association of Australia (SAAA).

They leased some land in Serpentine and formed the SABC to own and operate an airfield. Club members and their families cleared the scrub, and over the years built two runways (a 910 metre bitumen runway with lights and a 600 metre grass runway), taxiways, hangars, a Clubhouse, and other facilities. The club has 300 members, with over 130 aircraft based at Serpentine in more than 100 hangars.

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