South Australia's Royal Aero Club trains young heroes at Parafield; a bastion for the state's wealthiest families

The Royal Aero Club fleet, with clubhouse in the background, at Parafield in 1938, and (at right) Francis Marion Wright (nee Lunn), who gained her A licence to fly with the club in 1933.
Image courtesy State Library of South Australia and South Australian Aviation Museum, Port Adelaide

Between 25,000 and 30,000 attended a Parafield air show in 1926 to celebrate the opening of the South Australian section of the Australian Aero Club: the Royal Aero Club of South Australia.

Later that year, the club had defence department approval for the loan of two DH60 Gipsy Moths. In 1927, the club built a hangar and bought two aircraft for passenger transport and training.

The club was at the forefront of Adelaide upper-class society and many of its members came from Adelaide’s wealthiest and best-known families.
Two of club’s earliest members, Jimmy Melrose and Roy Gropler, benefited from its training and went on to become young long-distance solo flying heroes.

A friend of Melrose, who was from South Australia's pastoral aristocracy, was Francis Marion Wright (nee Lunn) who gained her A pilot's licence through the Royal Aero Club, Parafield, in 1933. In 1934, she won the Ross Smith Trophy for the highest aggregate score in flying competitiions. When World War II broke out, she was not allowed to fly with the forces but became section leader in the Red Cross women's transport and, as an experienced mechanic, worked on servicing motor vehicles and aircraft at Parafield.