The first official landing ground at Sale was based at the Sale Common. This involved filling in a large depression and building a bank to divert floodwaters. Sale's first aerodrome was opened in 1933. The opening of the aerodrome was a spectacular event which included examples of in-flight ground message retrieval in a Westland Wapiti and an aerobatic display in an aero club Moth. Unfortunately, the aerodrome was not a success with floods in 1935 causing it to be declared unsafe.

In 1937 a new site was selected for the building of another aerodrome at West Sale, however it was not made serviceable until World War II. In 1941 Sale was declared the location for a Bombing and Gunnery school based initially at West Sale Aerodrome.

A second airfield was established at East Sale in 1943. The new military airfields at Sale increased the population dramatically, adding around 1500 people between 1940 and 1945. During the war, over 3000 servicemen were trained at Sale.

In 1945, after the war had ended, it was declared that East Sale Air Force base would remain a permanent establishment. East Sale became the training base for four schools; School of Air Navigation (1946), Central Flying School (1947), School of Photography (1952) and School of Air Traffic Control (1957). Discussions are currently taking place to determine whether or not an expansion of the East Sale RAAF Base will take place.

In 1947 part of the West Sale aerodrome was taken over by Civil Aviation. 1980 saw the remainder of West Sale Aerodrome occupied by the National Safety Council of Australia (NSCA). The NSCA was shut down in 1989. The East Gippsland Community College of Technical and Further Education (TAFE) took up residence of the NSCA buildings in 1992.

West Sale is used primarily for Civil Aviation today, it is the home of several charter businesses and flying schools and from time to time airline connecting flights to Melbourne, Sydney and Tasmania have been conducted out of West Sale.

East Sale's first aerobatic team, the Red Sales, was formed in 1962. They used four de Havilland Vampire T33 aircraft. A new team was formed using the same aircraft in 1963, they were called the Telstars.

1970 saw the introduction of the Roulettes. Initially using Macchi jets. For the first few years, the Roulettes mostly consisted of a team of four. On some occasions a fifth member was used, doing mostly solo work. Later, the team regularly performed together using such formations as "five card", "rhombus", "kings cross", "leaders benefits", "vic", "swan five" and "line abreast". Further formations were introduced late in 1975.

Temporarily in 1981, a seven aircraft team was established for a performance at the RAAF's Diamond Jubilee Celebrations, performing in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia. It was decided that the complexity, time and manpower required to maintain the seven aircraft team was not feasible and the team reverted back to five members.

The Macchi Roulettes performed their last display in June 1989.

In 1989 the Central Flying School adopted the PC9 aircraft. A few months later the team was expanded to six members because the noise from the new aircraft didn't have as much impact. The PC9 Roulettes have gone on to perform all over Australia and Internationally.

The Roulettes can currently be seen performing in many locations and those in Sale enjoy practice displays over and around the town on a regular basis.

  The official Roulettes Website can be found here

2003 Roulettes Events Calendar

- Check Roulettes Official Website for up-to-date Information

1 Dec 02 V8 Ultimate Sandown Melbourne, Vic Roulettes 25 Jan 03 2003 Fire Brigade Championships Sale VIC SOLO 26 Jan 03 2003 Australia Day Celebrations Ballarat VIC SOLO 26 Jan 03 2003 Australia Day Celebrations Melbourne/Geelong VIC Roulettes 26 Jan 03 2003 Australia Day Celebrations Kilmore VIC Roulettes 8-9 Feb 03 Hobart Regatta/Devonport Airshow/National Servicemans Parade TAS SOLO 09 Feb 03 Whittlesea Country Music Festival VIC SOLO 12 Feb 03 Sale Cup Sale VIC Roulettes 13-16 Feb 03 Avalon Airshow VIC Roulettes 16 Feb 03 Kiwanis All Ford Day Geelong VIC Roulettes 22 Feb 03 Australian War Memorial Opening Canberra ACT Roulettes 22 Feb 03 Gnoo Blas Classic Motor Show Orange NSW SOLO 02 Mar 03 Sale Rocks On Weekend Sale VIC SOLO 6-9 Mar 03 2003 Fosters Formula 1 Grand Prix Melbourne Roulettes 9 Mar 03 Can Teen Watersports Day/Heyfield Vintage Machinery Rally VIC SOLO 10 Mar 03 Thropedale Potatoe Festival VIC Roulettes 16 Mar 03 Westernport Airfield Airshow Tyabb VIC SOLO 16 Mar 03 Wings and Wheels Lilyfield VIC SOLO 21-23 Mar 03 Clipsal 500 V8 Supercars Adelaide SA Roulettes 29 Mar 03 Air Force Week Function Point Cook VIC Roulettes 06 Apr 03 Challenge Family Day Avalon VIC SOLO 12-13 Apr 03 East Sale Open Day Wellington Shire Air Show Sale VIC Roulettes and SOLO 25 Apr 03 AFL Anzac Day Match Melbourne Roulettes 26 Apr 03 Barossa Vintage Festival SA Roulettes 4-5 May 03 Dalby Picnic Races QLD SOLO 4 May 03 Beef Week Rockhampton - QLD SOLO 6-7 Jun 03 Wintersun Festival Tweed Heads - QLD Roulettes 8-9 Jun 03 Old Station Fly-In Raglan QLD Roulettes

To celebrate 60 years of RAAF presence, Sale hosted the Sale Airshow in April 2003. The weekend was a great success with more than 5000 people attending the RAAF base open day and over 8000 attending the West Sale Events. Due to it's success,it is anticipated that the Sale Airshow will become a regular event, possibly to be held biannually.

To discuss the Sale Air Show, visit the Sale Events section of the Message Forum on this site.