THE son and grandson of Sir Patrick Gordon Taylor - one of Australia's most celebrated airmen - were among the estimated 1000 visitors to an historic celebration at Rathmines over the weekend.
Rathmines Community Hall and the grounds surrounding it played host to Rathmines on Parade.
The event was staged to mark the 75th anniversary of the former Rathmines air base, and the centenary of Australia's military aviation.
Alan Taylor said his father, the Military Cross recipient PG Taylor, was a key player in the history of the former Rathmines air base.
"One of his last great aviation pioneering flights was the crossing of the South Pacific in 1951 in a Catalina," Mr Taylor said.
"The Catalina and his association with them, and his link to Rathmines, was very deeply imprinted."
Mr Taylor praised the event organisers, Friends of Rathmines, for helping to preserve a significant part of Australia's military history.
He was less impressed with the decision by the RAAF to scale back its involvement in the parade flypast to just one aircraft - the Pilatus PC-9/A - partly due to heightened security measures at RAAF Williamtown.
