RAAF Base East Sale RAAF Base East Sale is one of the main training establishments of the Royal Australian Air Force , including where Australian Air Force Cadets have their annual General Service Training . It is home to the Roulettes aerobatic team . It is also now the home of the RAAF ' s Officers ' Training School ( OTS ) following its relocation from Point Cook Base . East Sale was upgraded to house the new OTS , which had its first intake of students in January 2008 . History . RAAF Base East Sale opened as a training base on 22 April 1943 . Initially , the base was home to No . 1 Operational Training Unit ( 1 OTU ) equipped with Bristol Beaufort light bomber aircraft , relocated from airfields at West Sale and Bairnsdale . The base was primarily responsible for training air crew , but units from East Sale also operated in some convoy protection and maritime surveillance roles . Over 3 , 000 aircrew were trained at the base between its opening and the end of World War II . In addition to the Beauforts , a variety of different aircraft types were operated from the base during this time , including the Lockheed Hudson on which future Prime Minister of Australia Edward Gough Whitlam undertook training as a navigator . Other types used by 1 OTU included Airspeed Oxford s and Fairey Battle s . Following the war , the RAAF Central Flying School was relocated from RAAF Base Point Cook to East Sale in 1947 . By 1953 , the school had received its first De Havilland Vampire jet aircraft . In 1962 , four Vampire jets from CFS at East Sale formed " The Red Sales " aerobatic display team . However while practising aerobatic routines on 15 August , all four Red Sales crashed in formation after failing to recover from a manoeuvre , killing six Central Flying School staff . Six months later , a second display team , " The Telstars " was formed , also flying Vampires and later Aermacchi MB - 326 ( Macchi ) jets . The display team was disbanded in May 1968 due to budget constraints and a shortage of available Macchi airframes . To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Royal Australian Air Force , the current Roulettes aerobatic display team was formed in 1970 , initially operating Mscchi MB - 326s . On 24 November 1987 , the first two of 67 Pilatus PC - 9 aircraft for the RAAF arrived at East Sale . This would become the primary aircraft used by the Central Flying School until the present . On 1 July 1989 , 32 Squadron - formerly a bomber and reconnaissance unit during World War II - was reactivated at East Sale and equipped with Hawker Siddeley HS 748 s . These aircraft were operated on general transport and training duties , including Airborne Electronics Analyst training . By June 2004 , the squadron had completed conversion to new Beechcraft King Air 350 equipment . In 1992 , the RAAF restructured its flight training programs , handing responsibility for ab - initio training and screening to civilian contractors and retiring its fleet of CT - 4 aircraft . The successful bidder to operate the Basic Flight Training School was the Ansett / BAe Systems Flight Training College at Tamworth , New South Wales using new build and ex - Australian and New Zealand Airforce CT - 4s . As the RAAF ' s primary training facility , BAe Systems also bases four of its aircraft at East Sale for training military flight instructors . Today it remains the RAAF ' s primary training base , operating continuously in this role since 1943 .