It is one of the Air Force's original units, dating back to the service's formation in 1921, when it was established at RAAF Point Cook, Victoria.

The school re-formed at RAAF Base East Sale in 2019, flying the Pilatus PC-21 and conducting ab initio flight training.

1 FTS) was the first unit to be formally established as part of the new Australian Air Force on 31 March 1921 (the term "Royal" was added in August that year).

[3] In December 1921, the Australian Air Board prepared to form its first five squadrons and allocate aircraft to each, as well as to the nascent flying school.

1 FTS to receive twelve Avro 504Ks and four Sopwith Pups, and the squadrons a total of eight Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5s, eight Airco DH.9s, and three Fairey IIIs.

[5][11] The first Citizen Air Force (active reserve) pilots' course ran from December 1925 to March 1926, 26 of 30 students completing the training.

Although 24 accidents occurred, there were no fatalities, leading Cole to remark at the graduation ceremony that the students were either made of India rubber or had learned how to crash "moderately safely".

[2] Fighter and Seaplane Squadrons were formally established as units that month,[19][20] but remained under the control of the flying school and were "really little more than flights", according to the official history of the pre-war RAAF.

[29] In April 1936, the school took delivery of its first Avro Cadets, procured as an intermediate trainer to bridge the gap between the Gipsy Moth employed for elementary flying instruction and the Wapiti used for advanced training.

[2] By this time the school was training up to 96 new pilots per year, a small percentage of whom were slated for secondment to the RAF on short-service commissions.

[33] Courses at the service flying training schools consisted of two streams, intermediate and advanced; the total duration varied during the war as demand for aircrew fluctuated.

[37] The school's complement of 52 aircraft included Wapitis, Cadets, Avro Ansons, Hawker Demons, and a de Havilland Tiger Moth.

1 SFTS was operating more than 100 aircraft, including Gipsy Moths, de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapides, Douglas C-47 Dakotas, CAC Wirraways and Airspeed Oxfords, the last two being the mainstays.

[34] Among these were Nicky Barr, who became one of Australia's leading fighter aces in North Africa, and Bill Newton, awarded the Victoria Cross for bombing raids in New Guinea.

[41][42] The RAAF had ordered the school's closure in August 1944 as part of a general reduction in aircrew training, after being informed by the British Air Ministry that it no longer required EATS graduates for the war in Europe.

[43] Significant reserves of trained Commonwealth aircrew had been built up in the UK early in 1944 before the invasion of Normandy, but lower-than-anticipated casualties had resulted in an over-supply that by 30 June numbered 3,000 Australians.

[2][45] Its complement of aircraft included one Anson, two Tiger Moths, and 55 Wirraways, though the unit was mainly responsible for the maintenance of equipment and little flying was undertaken apart from refresher courses for pilots posting to the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan.

[2][47] The RAAF's first post-war flying training course at the school consisted of 42 students and commenced in February 1948, finishing in August the following year.

[2][46] Flight grading took place after six months of general military training, at which point students were selected to be trainee pilots or navigators; the former remained at No.

[2] In response to demands for more aircrew to fulfil Australia's commitments to the Korean War and Malayan Emergency, flying training underwent major changes in 1951–52, the syllabus at No.

1 IFTS) was raised at RAAF Station Archerfield, Queensland, to impart students with general aeronautical and military knowledge, after which they received their flight grading during twelve hours on Tiger Moths.

1 BFTS) at Uranquinty, where they underwent a further 90 hours of aerial instruction that included instrument, formation and night flying, first on Tiger Moths and then on Wirraways.

1 AFTS relocated to RAAF Base Pearce, Western Australia, where its Wirraways were replaced by de Havilland Vampire jet trainers, which required a runway longer than that at Point Cook.

[50] On 31 December 1958, the Flying Training Squadron of RAAF College was disbanded, and the flight instruction component of the four-year cadet course became the responsibility of No.

[51][57] The demand for trained aircrew, which had lessened in the mid-1950s, rose again the following decade as a result of the RAAF embarking on a major re-equipment program, and Australia's increasing involvement in the Vietnam War.

[59] The introduction of the Macchi led to a brief flirtation with "all-through" jet training in the Air Force, consisting of 210 hours on this one type of aircraft.

The experiment was dropped after two courses as being, in the words of the official historian of the post-war RAAF, "an expensive way of finding out that some pupils lacked the aptitude to become military pilots"; by 1971 students were receiving 60 hours of basic training on Winjeels at Point Cook, and the Maachi course at Pearce was reduced to 150 hours.

1 FTS, British Aerospace was contracted to conduct flight grading at its base in Tamworth, New South Wales.

1 FTS was re-formed in January 2019 at RAAF Base East Sale to conduct basic flying training on the Pilatus PC-21.

This course graduated with wings in June 2024 and signified the first time Royal Australian Air Force pilots have conducted all their flying training at No.