The first powered flight in South Australia was of a
Blériot Aéronautique monoplane on March 13, 1910, south-west of
Salisbury in
Bolivar, South Australia, the flight was nicknamed the “Wittber hop”. In the 1920s investigations began into construction of an airport in Adelaide. Land was initially purchased in
Albert Park with the aerodrome site becoming the new suburb of
Hendon; but within a few years the cost of acquiring sufficient land, neighbouring residential development and the erection of power transmission lines all interfered with airport plans and the Hendon site was effectively abandoned. In 1927, the Commonwealth government purchased of land at Parafield from a family owned farming company for
£17,000. The area had been used for fattening sheep on
lucerne and other fodder plants. The new airport was expanded in 1942, with the boundary extending west to the
Gawler railway line. On 1 October 1927,
Horrie Miller was the first to land on the Parafield site, ground preparation was completed on the 17th and flights began on 26 November by the Aero Club of South Australia. The site was officially opened as an airport in August 1929 by
Governor-General of Australia Alexander Hore-Ruthven. The
control tower opened shortly prior to
World War II. Prior to
World War II,
Guinea Airways was the main company flying out of the airport using: •
de Havilland Fox Moth – DH83 •
de Havilland Dragon Rapide – DH89 •
Lockheed Electra Model 10A •
Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra •
Messerschmidt Taifun •
Douglas DC-3 •
Lockheed 18 Lodestar •
Ford Trimotor 5-A During
World War II, the
Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) occupied the airfield as a
station for basic
flight training and was home to
No. 1 Elementary Flying Training School (No. 1 EFTS) between 1939 and 1944 until it moved to
Tamworth,
New South Wales. A relief landing ground was located near
Virginia.
No. 34 Squadron utilised Parafield to deliver supplies to operational bases and aerodromes in the
Northern Territory and
Western Australia between 1943 and February 1945. In addition,
No. 238 Squadron RAF was based at Parafield from June to December 1945, from where it flew Dakota aircraft in support of the
British Pacific Fleet as part of
No. 300 Group RAF. After the war ended, transport was also handled by
Australian National Airways and
Trans Australia Airlines both moving to Adelaide Airport in 1955 which now handles all regular passenger transport. In 1983 a group of trees was planted by local high school students. When fully grown, from the air they clearly spelt out the word "PARAFIELD". As of 2007 the trees had been removed. In May 1992, two reconstructed runways opened. In May 1998, it was sold by the
Federal Airports Corporation along with Adelaide Airport to a consortium of
Manchester Airport Group,
Serco,
UniSuper and
Macquarie Bank Local Government Superannuation Scheme,
Legal & General,
John Laing,
National Australia Bank and
Hansen Yuncken. The
Parafield Airport Air Traffic Control Tower is listed on the
Australian Commonwealth Heritage List. ==Classic Jets Fighter Museum==