Queensland Volunteer Flying Civilians

QVFC

The Brisbane Flying School which was known as the Queensland Volunteer Flying Civilians was formed in 1915 in Brisbane by Major Thomas McLeod and Lieutenant Valdemar Rendle. Originally the school was named the "Queensland Volunteer Flying Corps" this however caused problems with officialdom and the name "Queensland Volunteer Flying Civilians" was settled upon. The school was funded by 550 pounds from "The Courier Aeroplane Fund", a fund from a Brisbane newspaper. This funding paid for the reconstruction of the aircraft, the aerodrome at Hemmant and the hangar that was built on the aerodrome.

The aircraft McLeod and Rendle reconstructed had been a pre-war aircraft in Australia which had been flown in flying demonstrations in Queensland in 1913. The Caudron had been imported from England by A.W. Jones and flown at local carnivals and events around Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia until it was badly damaged in an accident on the 2nd of January 1914. At the outbreak of war the Caudron was offered to the Point Cook flying school for 500 pounds which the Central Flying School declined.

It was in this state McLeod and Rendle purchased the Caudron for restoration as the QVFC's preliminary trainer. The pair reconstructed the aircraft in a hall alongside the St Pauls Church in St Pauls Terrace. Once the aircraft was completed it was christened "The Courier' and training for McLeod, Rendle and seven other cadets began on the weekends.

Major McLeod had been a flying pioneer in the state of Queensland. He held the record as the first pilot to fly a heavier than air aircraft in Queensland in 1910. McLeod had also been a gliding pioneer, both building and flying his designs in the Oxley area. McLeod was also a tireless exponent of flying writing numerous articles in local newspapers espousing aviation. McLeod's pioneering efforts are remembered in the Brisbane Museum as the Library is named in his honour.

In 1916 Major McLeod and Lieutenant Rendle took seven pilots who had finished their instruction and Leiutenant Rendle to the Royal Flying Corps. The seven pilots were Percy Snell, William Fraser, David R Stitt, Eric Handley, Herbert Smith, George Cherry, H.H. Turk. All of these pilots ended up serving with the Royal Flying Corps on the Western Front.

Lieutenant Valdemar Rendle initially enlisted with the RFC as a mechanic before getting his opportunity to go through flying training and earning his wings. Rendle's initial interest in the Flying Civilians which he co-founded was because he had been rejected for flying due to his eye sight. After the war in 1919 Rendle flew in an entry in the England-Australia Race in a Blackburn Kangaroo. Rendle was also an author on a book on the subject of Aeronautical Engineering.

Information on the Queensland Volunteer Flying Civilians courtesy of Neville Hayes, Adrian Hellwig and Mark Lax.