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Dick Smith and Sir Jackie Stewart back plan to rename Orange Regional Airport, but will it take off?
October 7, 2022
By Peter Holmes
A proposal to rename Orange Regional Airport after aviator Jim Hazelton - who died in 2014 - will be withdrawn, with the man who pitched it, Rohan Williams, saying he was disappointed by what he saw as a lack of support from council.
However Orange Regional Airport’s Tim Mooney and councillor Jack Evans have urged Williams not to withdraw his proposal, saying there was still a chance the airport could be renamed Jim Hazelton Airport Orange or similar.
Williams, a local businessman and aviation enthusiast, put the idea in writing to Orange City Council’s Airport Community Committee - of which he is a member - in May.
“Jim Hazelton was a pioneer of aviation … in both our local area and the international aviation theatre,” wrote Williams.
“His life and career touched many people who now hold leadership roles in aviation across the world today. I propose that we consider renaming the Orange Regional Airport in honour of Jim. I believe that this would be a very fitting honour to bestow on a man who contributed so much to our local area and the wider aviation community…”
Williams’ included A-list letters of endorsement from the likes of adventurer Dick Smith and motor racing legend Sir Jackie Stewart.
“Jim Hazelton was a giant of his time,” wrote Stewart. “[Former racing drivers] Graham Hill, Jim Clark, myself and others were all influenced by his enormous enthusiasm to always be the best at what he did. He gave all three of us the chance to acquire our pilots licence, with the best possible guidance …
“Jim introduced me to Orange … for my flying lessons and flying experience because Bankstown was so busy and restrictive in comparison, thus allowing the amount of time required for me to successfully secure my pilot’s licence.
“His integrity and care were unmatched. He was a man of tremendous charm and a much respected mentor, adventurous and aviator.
“I therefore believe that it makes huge sense for the Orange Regional Airport to be named in honour of Jim Hazelton.”
Dick Smith said it was a “wonderful idea to name the Orange Regional Airport after Jim Hazelton”.
“Jim was a most extraordinary aviator who assisted many hundreds of pilots during their careers,” Smith wrote in his letter. “Jim and his brother Max founded Hazelton Airlines, but Jim was drawn to the adventure of general aviation.
“[He] founded his own successful flight training business, training many pilots who value Jim’s expertise, and was a crop dusting pioneer. Jim was also well known and respected as a ferry pilot, flying all over the world.
“Charles Kingsford Smith and his crew may have been the first aviators to cross the Pacific, but Jim Hazelton safely completed over 200 Pacific crossings in a single engine aircraft.
“Jim’s early flying was based at Orange and it seems appropriate to commemorate him there as a true legend of Australian aviation.”
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Council's Airport Community Committee meeting on August 31, 2022, stated that Williams’ “report be noted and that this item be referred to the next meeting of the Airport Community Committee”.
It also stated: “Staff recommendation: That the entrance road into the Orange Airport is named Jim Hazelton Drive (road inside Airport boundary leading to the Terminal).”
The staff noted that Orange already has “the Max Hazelton Aero Club and a wall within the public terminal outlining the contribution of Jim’s surviving brother, Max, to the commercial aviation industry”.
“It is appropriate that we recognise Jim’s contribution to the general aviation industry and his adventurous spirit,” the staff recommendation said. “This proposal [renaming the entrance road], if endorsed by the Committee and supported by Council, is one way of doing that.”
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When The Orange News Examiner sought clarification from Williams about where things stood with his plan, he said: “My proposal to the Airport Community Committee is going to be withdrawn entirely. The staff members on that committee have basically brushed the issue aside - they don't want to rename the airport.”
Williams, who has the support of Hazelton's family, said that in the May committee meeting concern had been expressed over whether a change in name would cause confusion over Orange Airport’s two identification codes - one three-letter (OAG) and one four-letter (YORG) - but believed that it wasn't an issue.
“It’s as simple as changing the signage on the airport and in the ERSA Aviation reference [guide] for all airports in Australia. The basic name would change but all the coding would remain the same for navigation purposes and freight purposes.”
He described the staff suggestion of renaming the drive into the airport as a “sweetener” but “not what I want to achieve”.
“I know I’m not going to get the issue to go any further with the airport committee, so I’ll withdraw it,” he said. “I’m disappointed, but not surprised. Channelling it through the Airport Community Committee was the proper way of introducing the idea, but I didn’t think it would be taken seriously and it hasn’t been.”
Asked on a scale of one to 10 how determined he was to pursue the renaming of the airport, he said: “15”.
Tim Mooney from the airport, who also sits on the committee, told The Orange News Examiner that the matter had been deferred and would be raised at the next Airport Community Committee meeting. He said he had not decided whether or not to support a renaming, and wanted to undertake more research.
Councillor Jack Evans, who also sits on the committee, encouraged Williams to “continue the conversation” and not withdraw his proposal.
He said that renaming the airport was a significant consideration and that a decision could not be made quickly.