Almost 100 years after the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) launched its first plane in 1928 from the outback Queensland town of Cloncurry, a new flight school is giving another lot of bush icons their wings.
The Horizon Airways flight school opened this week and will allow graziers from across the north-west to gain much-needed flight skills without having to travel thousands of kilometres to the coast for lessons.
Farmers can now also get their licences faster, meaning less time spent clocking up the odometer on their properties.
Julia Creek grazier Colin Burnett racks up plenty of kilometres on his 32,000-hectare property, but the new Cloncurry facility means he'll soon be able to get around a lot faster.
"I'm driving 60 or 70,000 kilometres a year in my car, so it will cut that in half or more," Mr Burnett said.
"It's awesome — it's only a couple of hours from home and most people have downtime in the wet season and we can just come here."
High demand
Previously people had to travel to the coast to get pilot qualifications, but local businessman Ed Morrison saw a need for a school in the north west and purchased Horizon.
"Whether [people want to get their licence] for recreation or for grazing, they can take the life skills to where they need it," he said.
"I think it's another industry to Western Queensland — we've got the infrastructure and the availability of the instructors with the downturn in the industry from COVID, so let's take advantage of that."
The school is already proving to be popular with locals and is offering a special opportunity for the trainers.
"There are very few flying schools out here, but the demand for flight training and flying, in general, is really high," head of operations Matthew Munns said.
"We saw an opportunity in this location, which is the birthplace of the Royal Flying Doctors Service — so we consider it a bit of an honour and privilege to be out here."
