Our Journey

The first Air Force air show, organised on instructions from the Minister for Defence, was held at the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne for a paying crowd of 7000 people (and many more who watched from outside the ground). All the Air Force’s current types, except the Fairey IIID seaplane, were involved in displays of landing in confined areas, picking up and dropping messages, low-level bombing, formation flying, air drill, mock air combat, ammunition dropping, aerobatics and races.

The Queen’s Colour was presented to the Air Force by the Minister for Air, Mr William McMahon, at a special parade held at Laverton. The Royal Colour had not been presented in Australia before.  Although known as the “Queen’s” Colour, the colour actually bore the monogram of King George VI. This was because the colour was originally to have been presented during a royal visit to Australia that was planned for 1952, before the King died in February. It was the wish of Queen Elizabeth that her father’s colour should be presented in her name.

RAAF Base Edinburgh (Inc Woomera), South Australia

South Australia has a proud history with military aviation in Australia, dating back to its earliest days with many South Australians playing key roles in the Australian Flying Corps in World War 1 and the development of the RAAF between the wars. Sir Richard Williams KBE CB DSO, the first military-trained pilot in Australia and the Air Force’s first Chief of the Air Staff (widely regarded as the ‘Father’ of the RAAF), was born and raised in Moonta SA. During World War II, South Australian RAAF bases at Port Pirie, Mt Gambier, Mallala and Victor Harbor trained thousands of airmen.

The presence at Edinburgh dates back to World War II when the largest munitions plant in the Southern Hemisphere was established at Penfield, a small village to the south of the current base. From 1946 to the mid-1960s, several thousand Australians and British nationals were based at Penfield, Woomera and Mallala supporting weapons research and testing. In the early 1950s it was recognised that a more capable air base was required to support these activities and on 22 March 1954, RAAF Base Edinburgh was formally opened by His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

With the British concluding their research activities in the 1960s, 11 Squadron moved to RAAF Base Edinburgh from RAAF Townsville with its new P-3B Orion aircraft, starting a long relationship with South Australia.  In 1975, 92 Wing was established, comprising both 11 Squadron and 10 Squadron, which relocated from RAAF Richmond to RAAF Edinburgh with its new P-3C Orion aircraft, 292 Training Squadron and 492 Maintenance Squadron. Since then, a variety of RAAF units have called Edinburgh home including intelligence, radar, electronic warfare, security, air operations support and flight test. From 1964 to 2008, RAAF Edinburgh was the home to Air Force recruit training with No 1 Recruit Training School.

Today, RAAF Base Edinburgh, along with Defence Science Technology Group, Edinburgh Parks and the Woomera Range Complex, is part of the Edinburgh Defence Precinct. Over 6,500 RAAF and Army personnel from 1Bde, Defence civilians and contractors work across the operationally focused joint Defence establishment, which has also become the Australian Defence Force’s major intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance, and electronic warfare hub.

Over the next five years, RAAF Base Edinburgh will undergo continued development highlighting its ongoing importance. With infrastructure to support the recently-acquired P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft now completed, major construction projects will continue well into the next decade to support Army armoured fighting vehicles and planned Air Force capabilities including the MC-55A electronic warfare aircraft, MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft, and MQ-9 unmanned aircraft which will soon call Edinburgh home.

The flame for the Games of the XVI Olympiad in Melbourne was carried on board a RAAF Canberra jet bomber from Darwin to Cairns, Queensland, which was the start point for a torch relay down the eastern coast of Australia. The flame, carried in two miners’ safety lamps (one a spare), had arrived from Greece on a Qantas airliner on the evening of 6 November and was handed to the Commanding Officer of the RAAF Station at Darwin for custody. After a civic reception next day, the flame was placed in a Canberra aircraft and flown nearly 1500 kilometres to Cairns, where it began a 4500-kilometre torch relay to Melbourne.

The ‘Telstars’ gave their final public performance of formation flying over Yallourn, Victoria, after five years as an official Air Force aerobatic team using Vampire Mk 35A jet trainers. Over the period December 1967 to January 1968, the team converted their sequences onto the Aermacchi MB-326H with which the Central Flying School was then re-equipping.

The Air Force Memorial, constructed on Anzac Parade in Canberra, was unveiled by HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in his official role as Marshal of the Royal Australian Air Force. The memorial pays tribute to the Air Force's history and was designed by Mrs Inge King and consists of stainless steel vertical wing shapes, symbolic of flight.

Her Majesty, The Queen, Queen Elizabeth II, presented a new Queen's Colour for the Royal Australian Air Force during a parade at RAAF Base Richmond involving more than 900 members wearing the new pattern Air Force uniform. All the Colours, Standards and Banners of the Air Force were also paraded during the ceremony.

The 30-year permanent presence of RAAF fighter units based at Butterworth, Malaysia, ended with a special ceremony. In future, the Australian presence would comprise a detachment of P-3C Orions, an Army rifle company (changed over at three-month intervals), and regular rotational detachments of F/A-18 Hornets sent from Australia. The parade to mark the new arrangements was attended by Australia’s Defence Minister and the Secretary of the Department of Defence, along with the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Ray Funnell; Malaysia was also represented by its Defence Minister and the Chief of the Royal Malaysian Air Force. As RAAF and RMAF airmen paraded with their respective bands, there was a symbolic flypast of Mirages leading F/A-18, F-111 and P-3C aircraft. Spectators included six former Commanding Officers of Butterworth, from when it was a RAAF base before 1970, who were flown from Australia especially for the occasion. 

The Air Force’s first hot-air balloon made its maiden flight over Canberra.  Obtained in response to a growing number of requests for Air Force participation in public events, it allows members of the public to learn about the principles of flight. This balloon had an envelope capacity of 77,000 cubic feet. It was dark and light blue in four vertical sections with the Air Force Roundel on one side and the Air Force Crest on the other.

During the closing night ceremony for the 2000 Summer Olympic Games, held in Stadium Australia at Olympic Park, Homebush Bay, F-111s from No 6 Squadron ‘stole the show’ with a spectacular ‘dump and burn’ routine. This presented the illusion of the Olympic flame transcending the skies like a comet, to be reborn at the Games’ next location in Greece, in 2004.

A parade held at RAAF Base Richmond marked the transfer of C-130H Hercules transport aircraft operated by No 36 Squadron to No 37 Squadron operating the later J model variants of the C-130. The squadron was divesting itself of the Hercules in preparation for moving to RAAF Base Amberley in Queensland the next month and re-equipping with the first of four Boeing C-17A Globemaster transport aircraft. The occasion also saw Wing Commander Linda Corbould take over as Commanding Officer of 36 Squadron, making her the first female commander of any RAAF flying unit. She had specialised in transport operations since gaining her wings in 1990, and was now given the important task of overseeing the introduction into service of a new heavy lift capability not previously possessed by the RAAF.

The Air Force’s fleet of General Dynamic's F-111 bombers was retired after 37 years as the mainstay of Australia’s long-range strike capability. A six ship formation overflew Brisbane and the Gold Coast before returning to mount a display over Amberley, while a solo aircraft performed a 'dump and burn' routine. A8-125 fittingly marked the end of the F-111 era as the last to touch down.

The Pilatus PC-21 is the world's most advanced pilot training aircraft.

As part of the AIR 5428 Pilot Training System project, the PC-21 replaced Air Force's PC-9/A. It is based at RAAF Base East Sale in Victoria and RAAF Base Pearce in Western Australia.

Although the PC-21 is a key element of the AIR 5428 project, it is only one part of the story. The new Pilot Training System is able to train more people faster and to a higher standard, with an:

• advanced aircraft
• state of the art simulation, and
• an electronic learning environment.

The system ensures undergraduate pilots develop the necessary knowledge and skills prior to progressing onto advanced military aircraft such as the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter, Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter, and MRH-90 helicopter.

It is capable of sustained low-level speeds over 320 knots, and hydraulically assisted ailerons and roll spoilers can produce fighter-like rates of roll in excess of 200 degrees per second.

The capabilities of the PC-21 make it ideally suited to a very wide training scope. It can be used from day one in the training system, eliminating the need for an elementary flying training fleet, but also bridges the performance gap between traditional turboprop trainers and lead-in fighters.

This day marks the centenary of the formation of the Royal Australian Air Force. During the remaining months of 2021, events and initiatives will be undertaken to honour the sacrifices and service of the last 100 years, show today’s highly capable force, and foreshadow our future evolution. Air Force members will pause momentarily to reflect and commemorate this milestone before renewing their focus to deliver an agile and capable Air Force that is an integral element of the Australian Defence Force’s Joint Force.