page_title: Australian Air Corps
section_title: Equipment
hierarchical_section_title: Australian Air Corps / Equipment
caption_attribution_description: English: Unidentified civilians and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) personnel standing around a Royal Aircraft Factory SE5a aircraft with the registration A2-1 at Yanakie, Victoria. This aircraft was one of 35 SE5a fighters given by the British government as an Imperial Gift to Australia in 1920, and entered RAAF service in 1925 after a period of storage. In late 1927 this aircraft was written off after crashing at Armidale, NSW. SE5 and SE5a aircraft quickly made an impression over the Western Front during the First World War. They were generally armed with a fixed Vickers gun on the fuselage and a moveable Lewis gun mounted on the upper wing.
context_page_description: The Australian Air Corps was a temporary formation of the Australian military that existed in the interval between the disbandment of the Australian Flying Corps of World War I and the establishment of the Royal Australian Air Force in March 1921. Raised in January 1920, the AAC was commanded by Major William Anderson, a former AFC pilot. Many of the AAC's members were also from the AFC and would go on to join the RAAF. Although part of the Australian Army, for most of its existence the AAC was overseen by a board of senior officers that included members of the Royal Australian Navy.
  Following the disbandment of the AFC, the AAC was a stop-gap measure intended to remain in place until the formation of a permanent and independent Australian air force. The corps' primary purpose was to maintain assets of the Central Flying School at Point Cook, Victoria, but several pioneering activities also took place under its auspices: AAC personnel set an Australian altitude record that stood for a decade, made the first non-stop flight between Sydney and Melbourne, and undertook the country's initial steps in the field of aviation medicine.
context_section_description: The AAC's initial complement of aircraft included twenty Avro 504K trainers and twelve Sopwith Pup fighters that had been delivered to CFS in 1919, as well as a Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 and F.E.2, and a Bristol Scout. Seven of the 504Ks and one of the Pups were written off during the AAC's existence, leaving thirteen and eleven on strength, respectively. The B.E.2 had been piloted by Wrigley and Arthur Murphy in 1919 on the first flight from Melbourne to Darwin, and was allotted to the Australian War Memorial in August 1920; the F.E.2 was sold in November 1920, while the Scout remained on strength and was still being flown by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in 1923. In February 1920, the Vickers Vimy bomber recently piloted by Ross and Keith Smith on the first flight from England to Australia was flown to Point Cook, where it joined the strength of the AAC.
  In March 1920, Australia began receiving 128 aircraft with associated spares and other equipment as part of Britain's Imperial Gift to Dominions seeking to establish their own post-war air services. The aircraft included Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 fighters, Airco DH.9 and DH.9A bombers, and Avro 504s. Most remained crated for eventual use by the yet-to-be formed RAAF, but several of each type were assembled and employed by the AAC. One of the DH.9As was lost with the disappearance of Stutt and Dalzell in September 1920.
caption: Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5, part of the Imperial Gift that began arriving in March 1920
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