RAAF Base Pearce
| RAAF Base Pearce | |||||||||||||||||||
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Lineup of PC-9 aircraft from No 2 FTS at RAAF Base Pearce
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| Summary | |||||||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Military | ||||||||||||||||||
| Operator | Royal Australian Air Force | ||||||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 150 ft / 46 m | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 31°40′04″S 116°00′54″E / 31.66778°S 116.01500°ECoordinates: 31°40′04″S 116°00′54″E / 31.66778°S 116.01500°E | ||||||||||||||||||
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 YPEA
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| Runways | |||||||||||||||||||
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Sources: Australian AIP and aerodrome chart
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RAAF Base Pearce (ICAO: YPEA) is the main Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) base in Western Australia. It is located in Bullsbrook, north of Perth. It is used for training by the RAAF and the Republic of Singapore Air Force.
Pearce is the busiest RAAF base in the country in terms of total aircraft movements, including civil movements at the Joint User bases. Although its primary role is pilot training, it remains the only permanent Air Force base on the west coast, and thus has a significant logistics role.
RAAF Gingin is a small airfield located near Pearce that is also used for flying training. The airfield is owned by the Air Force and is managed by RAAF Base Pearce. A rotation of Air Traffic Controllers travel from Pearce each day to provide services, when requested by the flying units.
RAAF Base Pearce was officially granted "station" status on 6 February 1939. It was named in honour of Sir George Pearce, a long-standing Senator from Western Australia. Pearce was elected to the inaugural Senate in 1901 and remained a Senator for Western Australia until 1938. He was Minister for Defence in four separate ministries including the period 1910 to 1913 when the Central Flying School was established.
The base opened with two resident squadrons, Nos. 14 and 25 Squadrons.
During World War II, No. 5 Initial Training School (ITS) was formed at RAAF Pearce as part of the Empire Air Training Scheme. Recruits commenced their military service at the ITS, learning fundamentals such as mathematics, navigation and aerodynamics.
On the 10th of September 1950 a one-off motor race meeting, called the "Air Force Handicap" was held as a part of an RAAF air show. The circuit was triangular in shape, and used all three runways of the base. The feature race was won on handicap by Syd Negus in a Plymouth Special, ahead of Syd Barker in a Ballot V8 and Arthur Collett in an MG TC.
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