General News
27 March, 2025
Huge airshow set to preserve rich history of pioneering pilot Arthur Butler
Preserving the rich history of Cecil ‘Arthur’ Butler and his contribution to aviation in Australia and the community of Tooraweenah is a key goal of the Arthur Butler Aviation Museum (ABAM) committee ahead of a huge airshow in the village early next month.
Mark Pitts is ambassador and one vice-president of the ABAM and spoke to The Gilgandra Weekly ahead of the 2025 Airshow at Tooraweenah Airport that already has more than 2200 confirmed attendees.
This event will be held around 94 years since one of the most significant moments in the history of Tooraweenah.
It was love that put Arthur Butler on the path to both solo-flight gory and love in Tooraweenah. In 1931, Arthur, who was in England at the time, was told in a letter if he didn’t come home to Australia, he might lose the chance to marry his girlfriend Doris Garling.
He spotted a plane landing in the distance, so the story goes, and chased it down.
Arthur met the pilot, Nicholas Comper, who was trialling a new style of aircraft, now known as a Comper Swift.
The pair struck up a friendship and Mr Butler then flew the Comper Swift solo from England to Australia in nine days, one hour and 42 minutes, setting the England-Australia solo flight record.
“After that, he flew to Tooraweenah, proposed to my grandmother Doris (the late Doris Butler nee Garling) and the rest is history,” Mark told The Gilgandra Weekly.
Now, the ABAM will be holding its first airshow in April at Arthur Butler Memorial Aerodrome at Tooraweenah airport.
“It’s going very well,” Mark said with ticket sales reaching 2200 as of Wednesday, March 19.
Mark said the committee is working hard preparing the Aerodrome, spectator area and parking navigating the logistics of handling a large crowd.
People intending to attend Tooraweenah but haven’t bought their air tickets need to be prepared, Mark said.
He said people need to bring deck chairs if in general admission. He also added people need to pre-purchase tickets via 123Tix. Adjoining paddocks have been slashed to house thousands of general admission spectators and Pitts said he was appreciative of property leaseholder John Stewart letting this happen.
Kooper Fox is working very hard on finalising aircraft.
Kooper, who was raised in the Tooraweenah district and attended Gilgandra High School, is making his own path in aviation and is the ABAM’s airsite manager.
There will be a wide variety of planes coming to Tooraweenah from the Paul Bennet Airshows.
The Wolf Pitts Pro, a WWII P40 Kitty Hawk, P51 Warbird Mustang, Edge 540, Yak 52 (two), T28 Trojan and Beechcraft Beech B18.
Aircraft on display (displayed static on ground) will include the PL12 Airtruk, Nord 3202, CH-82 Tiger Moth and Nanchanj CJ-6.
The event will be a celebration of nostalgia and acknowledging Arthur’s part in putting Tooraweenah on the map.
The workhorse of the Butler transport days was the Douglas DC-3, which will also make an appearance.
“That’s quite a nostalgic thing for Tooraweenah to have the DC-3 come back in when it used to service Tooraweenah all those years ago daily,” Mark said.
Gary Weston is the ABAM president and Brendan Butler is the other vice-president.
Mark Pitts and Brendan Butler actually share the same great grandfather on the Garling side of the family, not being related through Arthur Butler despite Brendan and Arthur sharing the same surname.
“It is about resurrecting what Arthur did for Tooraweenah and Australia,” Mark said.
“Arthur always said: ‘Because Tooraweenah gave me a wife, I’m going to put Tooraweenah on the map’.”
“Arthur was a very charitable type of person, the aviator’s aviator. He was more interested in providing the best possible air service, rather than just making money.”
People are asked to arrive early ahead of the 11am start, with Mark saying parking will be available from 9am. Mark said people in general admission need to bring a portable chair.
