Arthur Butler Memorial Aerodrome

Item details


Name of item:	Arthur Butler Memorial Aerodrome
Other name/s:	Yeo Airport Terminal, Tooraweenah Aerodrome
Type of item:	Built
Group/Collection:	Transport - Air
Category:	Airport Terminal
Location:	Lat: S 31º 26.399’ Long: S 31º 26.399’
Primary address:	Tooraweenah Aerodrome Road, Tooraweenah, NSW 2817
Local govt. area:	Gilgandra

All addresses

Street Address	Suburb/town	LGA	Parish	County	Type
Tooraweenah Aerodrome Road	Tooraweenah	Gilgandra			Primary Address

Statement of significance:


	The Arthur Butler Memorial Aerodrome and terminal buildings hold a unique place in the history of commercial aviation in New South Wales. The aerodrome was the base and an operating hub of the highly successful airlines operated by pioneer aviator Arthur Butler between 1938 and 1957. As the Yeo Airport this was Australia’s first registered regional airport. The aerodrome has direct associations with Arthur Butler OBE, founder of Butler Air Transport Company and Butler Air Services Pty Ltd, pioneer Australian aviator and holder of the record for a solo flight between England and Australia. Within living memory the Yeo Airport served as a regional transport hub. The community of Tooraweenah holds the aerodrome and its buildings in very high regard, maintaining the buildings and grounds, and organizing the Arthur Butler Memorial Fly In each year. The place possesses state historical and historical association, rarity and representativeness. It also has local social significance and has a high level of integrity.
	Date significance updated: 25 Aug 08
	Note: The State Heritage Inventory provides information about heritage items listed by local and State government agencies. The State Heritage Inventory is continually being updated by local and State agencies as new information becomes available. Read the Department of Premier and Cabinet copyright and disclaimer.

Description


Designer/Maker:	Arthur Butler
Builder/Maker:	Unknown
Construction years:	1938-1948
Physical description:	The Arthur Butler Memorial Aerodrome consists of a grassed runway with motor vehicle access from Tooraweenah Aerodrome Road. The public area is separated from the airfield by a reconstructed picket fence with a tubular steel frame. Two former Butler Airlines Terminal buildings are located within the public area of the aerodrome. A small, skillion-roofed booking office and waiting room faces the airfield. This building is clad in corrugated galvanised iron. It has ledged and braced wooden doors and is lined with masonite sheeting. Customer service counters are framed in timber and faced with masonite. A separate pit toilet with a skillion roof is framed in timber and clad in corrugated galvanise iron. These buildings were apparently constructed in the late 1940s or early 1950s.
Physical condition and/or Archaeological potential:	The airport and buildings are in very good condition and are considered to have low archaeological potential.
	Date condition updated:25 Aug 08


Current use:	Aerodrome
Former use:	Aerodrome

History

Historical notes:

The village of Tooraweenah holds a unique place in the history of commercial aviation in Australia. In 1931 solo aviator Arthur Butler, on a record-breaking flight between England and Australia, landed his tiny Cowper Swift monoplane in the main street of Tooraweenah to refuel. Butler had a special connection to Tooraweenah through his sweetheart Doris Garling. He developed Australia’s first registered regional airport there.

Arthur married Doris Garling in Gilgandra in March 1932. In 1934, with the financial backing of Doris’ uncle P.S. Garling, he successfully tendered against established airlines for the Charleville-Cootamundra section of the England-Australia airmail route. He fulfilled this contract for four years using a De Havilland DH84 biplane, trading under the name Butler Air Transport Company. When the mail contract finished Butler Air transport Company operated as a civil airline, servicing centres in New South Wales and Queensland. (Marchant 2006)

In November 1938 Butler developed a 5,000 foot gravel and grass airstrip on land acquired from local grazier Alf Yeo. From this strip Butler developed an air transport service taking passengers and mail to Sydney via Cunnamulla, Bourke, Coonamble and Tooraweenah. Feeder car services brought passengers to and from Gilgandra and Coonabarabran. The original hangar for the airline’s De Havilland Dragon bi-planes was a converted shearing shed. (Rohr) Throughout World War II Butler Air Transport Company continued to operate its commercial routes and made aircraft parts for government production programmes (Marchant 2006).

Butler Air Transport Pty Ltd was registered as a public company after World War II (Marchant 2006) and the company’s services were inaugurated at Yeo Airport on 19 December 1948. By this time airport facilities included a small terminal building, hangar and workshops. Flights to Sydney were undertaken by Douglas DC3 passenger planes and feeder services being provided by the Dragon bi-planes. (Rohr)

By the early 1950s Butler Airlines provided regular air services from Yeo Airport using three Douglas DC-3, Avro Anson, DH 114 and Airspeed Ambassador aircraft (Marchant 2006). Butler Airlines provided regular passenger services operated from Yeo Airport with 300 passengers transiting through the terminal each week. Service cars provided passenger connections to Gilgandra, 44 kilometres away, and Coonabarabran, 60 kilometres away.

Butler Air Transport Pty Ltd was taken over by Ansett Transport Industries Ltd in 1957 and Arthur Butler ‘was effectively forced out of aviation by a bitter shareholding battle’ (Marchant 2006).

At one time Tooraweenah was recognised as the only village in the world with less than 200 inhabitants to possess a privately operated airport. The hangar and workshops building were removed to the Gilgandra Shire Council depot.

Historic themes

Australian theme (abbrev)	New South Wales theme	Local theme
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Transport-Activities associated with the moving of people and goods from one place to another, and systems for the provision of such movements	(none)-
9. Phases of Life-Marking the phases of life	Persons-Activities of, and associations with, identifiable individuals, families and communal groups	(none)-

Assessment of significance


SHR Criteria a) [Historical significance]	The Arthur Butler Memorial Aerodrome and terminal buildings hold a unique place in the history of commercial aviation in New South Wales. The aerodrome was the base and an operating hub of the highly successful airlines operated by pioneer aviator Arthur Butler between 1938 and 1957. As the Yeo Airport this was Australia’s first registered regional airport. The airport has state historical significance.
SHR Criteria b) [Associative significance]	The aerodrome has direct associations with Arthur Butler OBE, founder of Butler Air Transport Company and Butler Air Services Pty Ltd, pioneer Australian aviator and holder of the record for a solo flight between England and Australia. It has state historical association significance.
SHR Criteria d) [Social significance]	Within living memory the Yeo Airport served as a regional transport hub. The community of Tooraweenah holds the aerodrome and its buildings in very high regard, maintaining the buildings and grounds, and organizing the Arthur Butler Memorial Fly In each year. The place has local social significance.
SHR Criteria e) [Research potential]	The aerodrome and its buildings have little technical/research significance.
SHR Criteria f) [Rarity]	The Yeo Airport was the only registered regional airport in Australia serving a community of less than 300 people. The terminal buildings are rare surviving examples of the types of basic facilities constructed at regional airports in the 1930s and 1940s. The place has state heritage significance in relation to rarity.
SHR Criteria g) [Representativeness]	The airport is representative of the work of Arthur Butler and his contribution to the development of civil aviation in Australia. It has significance in this regard.
Integrity/Intactness:	The Arthur Butler Memorial Aerodrome has a high level of integrity.
Assessment criteria:	Items are assessed against the State Heritage Register (SHR) Criteria to determine the level of significance. Refer to the Listings below for the level of statutory protection.

Listings

Heritage Listing	Listing Title	Listing Number	Gazette Date	Gazette Number	Gazette Page
Local Environmental Plan	Gilgandra Local Environmental Plan 2011	I65	09 Dec 11
Heritage study

Study details

Title	Year	Number	Author	Inspected by	Guidelines used
Gilgandra Shire Community Based Heritage Study	2008		Ray Christison	Ray Christison	Yes

References, internet links & images

Type	Author	Year	Title	Internet Links
Written	Marchant, S	2006	Butle, Cecil Arthur (1902 - 1980)
Written	Rohr, K		Notes on the History of Tooraweenah

Note: internet links may be to web pages, documents or images.

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Data source


The information for this entry comes from the following source:
Name:	Local Government
Database number:	1590010

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