Page 13 - David Coles Australian Military Aircraft Book Interior Sample

the lives of White, Merz and Petre. This message could also be seen as the genesis of the Australian Flying Corps with the formation of The Mesopotamian Half Flight (this will be explored further in Chapter 2).
Work continued on the base facilities and by late 1915, the Officers’ Mess had been completed, joining a new engineering machine shop and living accommodation for the married staff. Soon after the first course began, the two BE.2s were finally ready for flying; however, as they only had one set of controls, they were not used for basic flight training, and Deperdussin CFS4 had been removed from the register after it was badly damaged. This meant that all the basic training had to be conducted on the lone Boxkite, and that was more often than not in the hangar for some sort of repair. Fortunately, there were a number of aircraft in Australia that were offered to the Government, and by mid-1915, CFS had a rather eclectic collection of types, good for familiarisation for both pilots and maintenance students, but a pain for the logistics managers. It was also difficult for the instruc- tors to maintain a standardised training regime. This was in part corrected by ordering more Boxkites, but as these were obsolete in every way, a fleet of four) Shorthorn aircraft - still obsolete, but a step in the right direction - were ordered, and another aircraft was built up from spare parts (incidentally, CFS15 is sometimes referred to
as a Longhorn, but all photos of the aircraft show it to be a MF.11 Shorthorn). When Britain and the RFC stan- dardised on the Gosport Training System in 1917, the standard basic trainer became the Airco DH.6 (another aircraft from the design table of Geoffrey de Haviland). In turn, eight of these aircraft were purchased for CFS and became the most numerous type to serve with the unit until CFS was reformed in 1940 at Camden, NSW, then equipped with twenty-three de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moths.
Meanwhile, training continued throughout WWI with 156 pilots graduating over twelve courses (including the initial class). From this group were formed Australia’s first operational units, beginning in January 1916 with the formation of the 1st Squadron AFC which embarked for Egypt in March of that year. The 3rd Squadron (September 1916) and the 4th Squadron AFC (October 1916) were both created at Point Cook and were sent to England for operational training (the 2nd Squadron AFC had been raised in Egypt in September 1916).
Once the war ended in 1918, little training took place at CFS with the instructors mainly doing survey flights, making maps and selling Government bonds. Finally, in 1921, what was left of CFS was taken over by the newly formed No.1 Flying Training School (1FTS), RAAF.
The aircraft which carried the CFS19 serial number is now on display in the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, Ottawa
D.K. Coles
CHAPTER ONE \\ CENTRAL FLYING SCHOOL (CFS) 1914-1919
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