Tooraweenah locals and aviation enthusiasts share an ambition to make Australians aware of the importance of Tooraweenah and early aviator Arthur Butler to the nation's aviation industry. 

On Saturday 22 May the Arthur Butler Aviation Museum and Airport Committee, along with their support crews, held an Open Day and Bruch at the Tooraweenah Air Terminal and report that the event was a good kickstart to their campaign. 

Around four hundred people, sixteen light aircraft, a couple of vintage planes and more than twenty classic cars converged on the Tooraweenah Airstrip. 



"We were always threatened by the weather," said committee member and Butler descendant Mark Pitts. 

"The day before was a lot windier but by Saturday the wind had dropped, although it was a big cloudier." 

Despite some aeroplanes being grounded in places like Bathurst and Gunnedah, others made it from Rylstone, Mudgee, Wellington, Dubbbo, Coonamble and Coonabarabran. 

The aircraft parked at the Terminal and the classic cars from clubs in Coonabarabran and Coonamble were allocated an area, allowing the public to wander around and talk to the owners about their machines. 

As well as morning tea and a Lions Club barbeque, visitors were treated to an educational display in the Terminal building. 

A Butler Heron at Mascot airport in 1953. IMAGE wikipedia

"The purpose of the day was to educate the public in the history and magnitude of Tooraweenah's involvement in aviation history," Mr Pitts said. 

"Also Butler Air Transport's role in pioneering just about every air service in NSW and southern Queensland, including Coolangatta Airport." 

"So many people had no idea just how significant it was." 

"You could fly from Charleville to Sydney via Tooraweenah; there was a route that included Baradine, Collarenebri, Moree and St George; and towns like Walgett, Brewarrina, Bourke, Cobar, Nyngan and Coonamble all had regular air services." 

"All those people in western NSW had access to Sydney that they don't have today," he said. 

"Butler Air Transport also covered all the south west, the south coast and the northern NSW coast." 

"It was really comprehensive and nothing since has been as comprehensive," Mr Pitts said. 

Butler Air Transport was taken over by Ansett in 1958 and the Tooraweenah Airfield gradually fell into neglect, however, hopes are high of making the airstrip a destination for pilots and tourists into the future. 

The display in the Terminal building included maps of all the Butler Air Transport routes, dozens of historic photographs and the first mail bag ever to leave Australia by air. 

"People couldn't believe it," said Mr Pitts. 

"In a nutshell Tooraweenah was the mecca of regional aviation in Australia." 

Gilgandra Mayor Doug Batten gave an address congratulating the nine-member organising committee and supporting their plans to host further events and establish an Arthur Butler Aviation Museum at the Tooraweenah Airstrip. 

"We have a meeting next week to discuss the World Record Weekend in November, where we hope to have an exact replica of the Comper Swift that he flew from England to Australia in 1930 to break the world record," Mr Pitts said. 

"All going well that will be an annual event to celebrate the world solo record from England to Australia."