There are claims that Major Baden Fletcher Smyth Baden-Powell, youngest brother of the founder of The Boy Scouts Association of the United Kingdom, Robert Baden-Powell and an aviator, first brought flying-based activities into Scouting.

[1] However, as late as July, 1932, Baden Baden-Powell wrote, in the Scouter: An Airman's badge was introduced by The Boy Scouts Association in December 1911.

They were not accepted for fear the Branch might be 'led away by attractive non-essentials' and there was insufficient manpower in the Movement to maintain it.

However, by the late 1930s, Scout Troops in the vicinity of airfields and gliding clubs were encouraged to include air activities in their programmes and an 'Air Patrols' pamphlet was produced.

The activities can also include parachuting or flights in light aircraft, helicopters, gliders or hot air balloons.

The original founding was initiated by Army Aviator Lt. Col Vasco Alves Secco.

[19] Brazil and Chile vie for the first officially recorded Air Scout Groups in South America.

The first Air Scouts in Egypt where formed early in 1954,[22] and in the same year the executive committee of the Air Scouts was formed and held its first meeting in the office of the Director-General of the Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority on 17 February 1954.

Current Finnish Air Scouting started in 2015 by a group based at the Helsinki-Malmi airport.

The first documented French Air Scout camp was held at Saint Cyr, 25 August to 1 September 1935.

After World War II it was restarted by a few groups and at the 1947 Peace Jamboree many full-sized gliders built by various Air Scouts where shown to participants[23] and demonstrated as well as activities such as aeromodelling.

[24] Currently only two practising Air Scout Troops are known – one based in southeast France[25] and one of the smaller French Associations.

Mr. Chin is a Queen's Scout, a Trainer, and a member of the Hong Kong Chin Brothers aviators with the long-distance flying record of successfully completed "The First 100 horsepower Single-engine England to Hong Kong Long Distance Cross-Country Flight in History".

[30] The local flying organisations around Gyor Regional Airport have supported them with access to appropriate activities.

The Group is adapting their Air Scouting Programme from a various of sources, including Poland, Ireland, Spain and the UK.

[34] The 10th Kuala Lumpur Group in the Methodist Boys' School[35] was established circa 1910, converted to Air Scouts in 1951 and remains active.

[46] The initial objectives where to cater for the young people in the science and art of airmanship/aviation trades, discipline and citizenship.

Sqn Ldr Sameer Shah has been now promoted to the rank of Wing Commander and is currently the Officer Commanding of PASA's No.5 Squadron named the Falcons stationed at Islamabad and side by side he has been appointed the ACS Instructor at PASA's Air Commanders School where he is training young Air Scouts with Aviation activities as well as scouting activities.

In 1935, an Air Scouting Group from Associação dos Escoteiros de Portugal was created in Lisbon.

Same year, Corpo Nacional de Escutas in Angola (then part of Portuguese empire) establish the same scouting model in Moçâmedes.

Only in 2015, at Montijo, Corpo Nacional de Escutas (Portuguese Catholic Scouts) opened a new one.

[50] The city-state of Singapore has a vibrant Air Scout Group, the Soaring Eagles Air Scout Wing,[51] originally started in 1998 as Cub Pack attached to Woodlands Ring Primary School but has expanded over the years and moved its base location to Endeavour Primary School.

Air Scouting activity had been extremely poor up to date, just a few single troops merged in ASDE (Scouts de España, WOSM) from Valencia and Tenerife (Canary Islands), both experiencing a period of activity of about two or three years during the late 1970s.

Today, there's a revival on the way with two active groups in the ASDE Madrid area, one more in the ASDE Castilla-Le Mancha area (in Albacete) and the older group active in Barcelona belonging to the Associació Catalana de Scouts (Catalan Association of Scouts, WFIS) Supported by the Sri Lankan Air Force, the 57th Colombo is a member of the Sri Lanka Scouts Association and has over 90 members.

[55] It was founded in 1975 by Isam Kamel and Alladeen Hassan Abas as part of the National Aviation Institute.

Also, Sudanese Air Scouts send some members to study plane models in the Czech Republic.

This new branch of scouting provided young people with specialised training and experiences in aviation.

[60] The Scout Association bought their first glider in 1959, and operated an Air Activity Centre at Lasham, near Alton in Hampshire, until 1978.

The Ace (Silver Award) cloth knot and medal may still be worn by anyone who earned them before the program was dropped.

The name is also used as a derogatory reference to members of the U.S. Air Force, typically used by combat troops of the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps.