The inaugural meeting of the Callide Dawson Flying Group Inc. was held at the Jambin Hotel on 17 June 1989 which makes the club 24 years old this year. Of the original nine members, only two are still around - Myles Breitkreutz who is also a representive for RAAus and Len Neale who was the original club secretary. Two other founding members, Earle Grove and Kevin Wilson have taken off for that great runway in the sky.
At the very beginning, the group experianced difficulty getting a quorum at the meetings even though the name suggested the club represented the wider areas of the Callide and Dawson Valleys and that the main broad objective of the group was to promote interest in flying.
The Callide Dawson Flying Group held an early fly-in at the Dululu gliding field in conjunction with the Central Queensland Gliding Club which created some interest. The Creed boys attended this event which gave them some ideas that later developed into the Old Station Airshows and Fly-In's as we know it today.
It wasn't until the annual fly-ins began at Kevin Wilson's Smoky Creek Airfield that the club really began pumping. The first of these events was a good excuse for a party. It was the occasion of Aeronca Champion owner John Rasmussen's 60th and Len's 50th birthday that made a good excuse to have a fly-in. So started a succession of annual fly-ins with up to 40 aeroplanes, 100 people, BBQ's, fire works, bonfires and in the morning the dawn flight followed by the traditional bacon and eggs breakfast. From there on, the club had no trouble in gaining a quorum for the meetings.
Sadly, Kevin Wilson's illness prevented the flying group having the fly-in at Smoky Creek in 2010. Thankfully by then, other airfields at Tony Fitzpatrick's near Biloela aswell as Frogs Hollow, Theodore with Liz and Dave See (Secretary) becoming available for such events.
It has been reported that Liz and Dave have been amazing in promoting wonderful flying activities at places that include the Capricorn Coast, Rockybar, Calliope, Baralaba, Theodore and of course being a major supporter of the NORAA-Aus fly-ins at Monto. Steve Swan is currently the club President, Tony De Git is Treasurer while Rick Parks satisfies the position of Vice-President.
Additionally, Myles faithfully continues to represent the club on the RA-Aus board and in his capacity as Pilot Examiner.
The objective for the Callide Dawson Flying Group continues to be that of promoting recreational flying in many categories including having provided some scholarships in the past to help some fledgling flyers make a start. Len commented "who knows what future activities we may become involved in that further promote learning to fly" while remaining confident the club will continue getting together and sharing the privilege of flying.
Today, members of the CDFG meet monthly (generally on a Saturday) at Biloela / Thangool Aerodrome and keenly invite members from other clubs, aviation enthusiasts and the general public to come along and join the social gathering - there is always plenty to talk about all the while taking a look at the many and different types of aircraft.
For more information about the Callide Dawson Flying Group, feel free to contact the following members as they will keenly assist you with any enquire :
Dave See ... (07) 4993 1120
Len Neale ... (07) 4992 3959
Steve Swan ... (07) 4997 2372
Alternatively, the Callide Dawson Flying Group can be found on facebook :
https://www.facebook.com/Callide-Dawson-Flying-Group-1463465093973705
