To: The Advocate
Faxed on 24-1-1996 9:54 pm
Subject: Tamair

May I suggest that it is a good thing that Tamair ceased flying here, and not before time - any day now their commuter plane could have collided with one of those jetfighters who seem to have made the area their holiday playground.
This morning (24/1) is a case in point: a fighter plane swooped in low from east-nor’east at perhaps 200m or less at Pacific Palms only seconds before a small aircraft flew north above the Lakes Way at maybe 300m altitude.
This was only for starters, since the fighter pilot obviously met up with a mate in the Coomba Park area, and residents were subsequently treated to a fascinating if noisy display of low-level tail-chasing that saw the pair cross the Lakes Way in any numbert of obtuse angles for the better part of an hour.
The spectacle almost distracted from the worry of collisions - until another “near-miss” with a northbound small civilian aircraft at about 10.45am.
Perhaps we owe such thrilling displays to a deal the air force has made with the tourist bureau, so as to entertain bored holidaymakers who are just venturing outside again after days of rain? Or what kind of justification do the “powers above” advance for using a holiday resort area for this kind of tree-top training?

PS: The Advocate might like to publish - regularly during the holiday seasons - a number where people can register complaints about the above-mentioned antics. In the absence of such recourse - does anyone here happen to have a spare Exocet in his garage...