Fly Me Friendly

We’ve just started Spring Carnival here in Melbourne – about 1.5 months of horse racing on tracks around Melbourne and through out the state of Victoria.

So, what does this have to do with helicopters?

Plenty!

Due to the popularity of the races, driving to the track can be a real joke. Long queues of cars often start before the off ramp on the highway let alone within a few blocks of the track. So, a number of people will arrange to get a helicopter ride into the track rather than go through the hell of driving or public transport. People typically get picked up in the city but some will go from Moorabbin (YMMB), Essendon (YMEN) or Melbourne International (YMML) airports.

Our apartment building is under the flight path most of the helicopters take between Moorabbin airport and the city and/or Flemington race track. So we’ll see a stream of various helicopters flying in to the city to track runs. Then, as they need to refuel, they’ll head back to YMMB before coming back again. Once the days racing is underway things settle down until later in the afternoon when the whole lot starts up all over again.

Sure makes for a great time if you like watching them pass overhead.