CFS was inaugurated at Point Cook, Victoria, in March 1913, and trained over 150 pilots of the Australian Flying Corps during World War I.

In December 1911, the Australian Department of Defence advertised in the United Kingdom for "two competent mechanists and aviators" to establish a flying corps and school.

[3] Petre arrived in Australia in January 1913; his first job was to choose a site for the proposed Central Flying School (CFS), which he was to command.

Harrison made the unit's first flight in the Boxkite on 1 March 1914, while Petre, flying a Deperdussin later that day, registered its first accident when he crashed after snaring his tailplane in telephone wires.

[3][6] Williams, who became the first to graduate, recalled the school as a "ragtime show" consisting of a paddock, tents, and one large structure: a shed for the Boxkite.

[8][9] Many of these students would go on to play a prominent role in the future Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), including Bill Anderson, Harry Cobby, Adrian Cole, Frank McNamara, Lawrence Wackett, and Henry Wrigley.

The facilities were improved, and by the end of 1915, according to Wackett, they boasted "a good engineering workshop", "cottages for the married staff" and "a very comfortable officers mess".

[14][15] Little training took place in the year following the November 1918 Armistice; staff mainly did "odd jobs" such as making survey flights and promoting government bonds.

[22][23] On establishment, its personnel numbered 470 officers and airmen, and its complement of aircraft included twenty-three Tiger Moths, nine CAC Wirraways, and fourteen Avro Ansons.

[21] Graduates from Camden included Bill Newton, later awarded the Victoria Cross for bombing raids in New Guinea,[24][25] and Jerry Pentland, a World War I fighter ace with twenty-three victories, who went on to become perhaps the oldest RAAF pilot on active duty.

[28] Tamworth was not considered a suitable airfield for the school's Wirraways, Ansons and Airspeed Oxfords, and a further relocation was deemed necessary, this time to RAAF Station Parkes, New South Wales, on 18 January 1944.

[1] By 1951, the average student taking the six-month instructors' course was reported as being a flight lieutenant aged twenty-seven, with 1,000 hours flying experience.

[8][38] The CAC Winjeel entered service in 1955, to replace the Tiger Moth as the Air Force's basic trainer, and began operating at CFS the following year.

[8] Led by Air Commodore Brian Eaton, the team chose the Italian Macchi MB-326H as it met all requirements, could be licence-built by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation in Australia, and was relatively inexpensive.

[41] A new aerobatic team flying Macchis, the "Roulettes", was formed at CFS in August 1970, in preparation for the RAAF's fiftieth anniversary celebrations commencing in March 1971.

[8][47] All-through jet training was dropped in 1971, subsequently being labelled "an expensive way of finding out that some pupils lacked the aptitude to become military pilots".

CFS also flew Dakotas for twin-engined instructor courses until March 1980; they were further used to train pilots of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force.

[50] Practising and performing with the Roulettes, which celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 2020, remains a secondary task for team members after their instructional duties.

[45][51] As well as the Roulettes' displays, the school is responsible for the training and public relations work of the Air Force Balloons, which are co-located with No.

[52][53] In their role supporting RAAF recruitment and public awareness, the two hot-air balloons are often employed in rural areas as an economical alternative to displays by the Roulettes or other aircraft.