Every year we see it: the horses, the owners, the fashions on the field, outlandish ties and top hats, and the race that stops a nation.

In the background, the thumping of the rotor blades reveals another part of the spectacle to the Melbourne Cup: the airlift of VIPs, corporate titans, the well-heeled and the just plain willing-to-spend punters arriving aboard helicopters.

A helicopter at the Microflite helipad at Batman Park that will carry passengers to Flemington on Cup Day. Credit: Pablo Barnes

One after another, the choppers arrive, their passengers alight, and they depart again through the day. In the evening, like a crack operation, the helicopters ferry the exhausted racegoers out of Flemington Racecourse.

The Apocalypse Now -volume of choppers peaks during the biggest d

See Full Page