No. 5 Service Flying Training School RAAF

Brief History

No. 5 Service Flying Training School formed at Uranquinty, New South Wales, in October 1941, t as part of the Empire Air Training Scheme. The School was part of No. 2 Training Croup, and consisted initially of 792 personnel, who were to train some 200 pilots, using a basic flying training syllabus. Flying training started in February, with a total of 28 Wirraway aircraft. Like other basic flying training schools a large number of student accidents occurred during the first few months of operational flying. The first fatal accident at the School occurred on 7 April 1942.

The unit continued to grow, and flying operations proceeded without major interruptions throughout 1942. Eleven officers and 42 sergeants successfully graduated from course 26 in the first week of January 1943. Throughout 1943, aircraft numbers~ and hence training activity increased, until by early 1944 the School had 128 Wirraway aircraft, 2 DH-84s, 1 Wackett traincr, and 2 Moth Minors, and was flying approximately 6,000 hours per month. Almost one course graduated each month. With the increased flying rate, training accidents continued to occur on a fairly regular basis, yet fortunately over the period from December 1944 to January 1945, no flying accidents were reported, due perhaps to the lower level of activity during this period. The amount of flying at the School rapidly decreased throughout 1945, along with a general winding down of the base and its facilities. By November of that year the aircraft were being prepared for long term storage.

In February of 1946, No. 1 Flying Training School (I FTS) was formed from the personnel and equipment of 5 Service Flying Training School. This unit functioned more as a care and maintenance unit for those aircraft previously placed in storage, rather than as a flying school, and very little flying was actually earned out. No. 1 FTS was transferred to Point Cook on 31 August 1947. Care and Maintenance Unit (CMU) Uranquinty was formed, and was responsible for the maintenance of the aircraft held in storage on the unit. An auction was held by the unit in November 1948, which resulted in the disposal of most of the equipment. Care and Maintenance Unit Ura11quinty was disbanded on 10 December 1948.

Unit Personnel

• Gordon Kevin Johnson 2 Jul - 5 Oct 1945

Trainees

Notes

Content has come from Units of the Royal Australian Air Force - A Concise History - Volume 8 Training Units - Australian Government Publishing Service - 1995 page 107.