The Royal Victorian Aero Club is an Australian aero club based at

Moorabbin Airport Moorabbin (Harry Hawker) Airport is a mostly general aviation airport for light aircraft located in between the southern Melbourne suburbs of Heatherton, Cheltenham, Dingley Village and Mentone. It also receives commercial airline service. T ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

History

Founded by pioneer aviators in 1914 at

Point Cook Point Cook is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Wyndham local government area. Point Cook recorded a population of 66,781 at the 2021 census. Point Cook ...

, the club is one of Australia's oldest flying training organisations. The Australian Aero Club was formed on 28 October 1914 (and formally established on 9 April 1915) and was subsequently affiliated with the

Royal Aero Club The Royal Aero Club (RAeC) is the national co-ordinating body for air sport in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1901 as the Aero Club of Great Britain, being granted the title of the "Royal Aero Club" in 1910. History The Aero Club was foun ...

of Great Britain. Renamed the Victorian Aero Club in October 1934, on 13 March 1935 approval to use the "Royal" prefix was granted and since that date the institution has been known as the Royal Victorian Aero Club. While originally formed at Point Cook, in 1919 the Club transferred operations to what was then the Commonwealth Aerodrome on Bulla Road in

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League United King ...

. The Flying Section of the Club was officially opened by Lieutenant Governor Sir William Irvine on 21 August 1926. Operations were somewhat limited during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and

Essendon Airport Essendon Fields Airport , colloquially known by its former name Essendon Airport, is a public airport serving scheduled commercial, corporate-jet, charter and general aviation flights. It is located next to the intersection of the Tullamarin ...

subsequently became the primary commercial airport for Melbourne, the increased airliner traffic limiting private operations.

Identities

Laurie McPherson, Instructor 1950–1951. CFI 1952–1960, 1969–1970 and Manager 1961–1968 and 1978–1985. Pilot who conducted tests on behalf of the Australian Department of Civil Aviation to closely examine the spinning characteristics of the DHC Chipmunk. Roy F Goon, first flew with RVAC in 1933, flew CAC Boomerang aircraft during Second World War in Darwin and Gove (Sqdn. Ldr. 83 Sqdn). Commanding Officer of l l l MFCU at Labuan. He held this position from 14 February 1943 to 7 September 1945 and was a test pilot with the RAAF, Commonwealth Aircraft Factory and

Royal Flying Doctor Service The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), commonly known as the Flying Doctor, is an air medical service in Australia. It is a non-profit organisation that provides emergency and primary health care services for those living in rural, remote an ...

. Held Commercial Pilot Licence No 511 and was an Instructor at the RVAC for 40 years and Chief Flying Instructor in 1977. Goon was a member of the well-known

Chinese-Australian Chinese Australians () are Australians of Overseas Chinese, Chinese ancestry. Chinese Australians are one of the largest groups within the global Overseas Chinese, Chinese diaspora, and are the largest Asian Australian community. Per capita, Au ...

family from

Ballarat, Victoria Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. Within months of Vic ...

Club Operations

The Royal Victorian Aero Club provides aircraft and facilities for pilot training and private flying at Moorabbin Airport.

Aircraft

Previous aircraft

Most of the training aircraft in the 1950s were the

de Havilland Tiger Moth The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s British biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other operators as a primary trainer aircraft. ...

. The De Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk and

Victa Airtourer The Victa Airtourer is an all-metal light low-wing monoplane touring aircraft that was developed in Australia, and was manufactured in both Australia and New Zealand. Design and development The Airtourer was the winning design, submitted by Hen ...

were used in the 1960s followed subsequently by a limited number of

Beechcraft Beechcraft is an American brand of civil aviation and military aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of Beech Aircraft Corporation, an American manufacturer of general aviati ...

Current Fleet

Piper Warrior The Piper PA-28 Cherokee is a family of two-seat or four-seat light aircraft built by Piper Aircraft and designed for flight training, air taxi and personal use.Plane and Pilot: ''1978 Aircraft Directory'', pages 62–64. Werner & Werner Corp, ...

(x6) *

Piper Archer The Piper PA-28 Cherokee is a family of two-seat or four-seat light aircraft built by Piper Aircraft and designed for flight training, air taxi and personal use.Plane and Pilot: ''1978 Aircraft Directory'', pages 62–64. Werner & Werner Corp, ...

(x1) *

Piper Arrow The Piper PA-28 Cherokee is a family of two-seat or four-seat light aircraft built by Piper Aircraft and designed for flight training, air taxi and personal use.Plane and Pilot: ''1978 Aircraft Directory'', pages 62–64. Werner & Werner Corp, ...

(x1) *

Cessna 152 The Cessna 152 is an American two-seat, fixed- tricycle-gear, general aviation airplane, used primarily for flight training and personal use. It was based on the earlier Cessna 150 incorporating a number of minor design changes and a slightly ...

(x3) *

Cessna 172 The Cessna 172 Skyhawk is an American four-seat, single-engine, high wing, fixed-wing aircraft made by the Cessna Aircraft Company.

(x2) *

Piper Seminole The Piper PA-44 Seminole is an American twin-engined light aircraft manufactured by Piper Aircraft. The PA-44 is a development of the Piper Cherokee single-engined aircraft and is primarily used for multi-engined flight training.Montgomery ...

(x1) *

Partenavia Partenavia Construzioni Aeronautiche was an Italian aircraft manufacturer that specialised in general aviation. The company operated between 1957 and 1998. Founded by Professor Luigi Pascale, Partenavia became a limited company in 1959, and was a ...

(x1) * Sling 2 (x2)

References

{{Reflist https://rvac.com.au/ https://www.austrade.gov.au/SupplierDetails.aspx?ORGID=ORG0000144465&folderid=

External links

The Royal Victorian Aero Club official WebsiteSubmission by RVAC to Federal Government National Aviation Policy June 2008.Royal Victorian Aero Club @ WikiPilots
Flying clubs Organisations based in Australia with royal patronage Aviation in Victoria (state) 1914 establishments in Australia Sports clubs established in 1914 Clubs and societies in Victoria (state) Sport in the City of Kingston (Victoria) Sporting clubs in Melbourne Aviation organisations based in Australia Sporting clubs in Australia