On 1st August 1934 the Australian Air League was incorporated as a limited liability company, with Robey, Captain Walter William Beale, OBE and five others as signatories. Soon after the Governor General, Sir Isaac Isaacs granted his patronage, and names of those prominent in the Sydney business world began to appear on the Corporate Members Register. The first training Squadron opened at Manly, N
ew South Wales on 17 January 1935 with 30 Cadets aged between 14 and 23 years (including, of course, Keith Robey) beginning their course of training. In March 1935, Manly Branch had around 90 members, and by May that same year, Branches had also been formed at North Sydney, Mosman, Mascot, Burwood, Warringah, Randwick, Bathurst, Cootamundra and Katoomba, and the idealistic aim was to open one branch per week. That same month, a Vice-Regal Ball was held in Sydney, with debutantes being presented to the Governor General. Although a girls' section was not to be a reality for many years, it was reported in October 1935 that Rockdale Branch had established a flight of girls, and other branches were pressing for action to be taken in this area. At a colourful ceremony at Kingsford Smith Aerodrome on 6th November 1937, the League's aims began to come to fruition, when the first six Flying Scholarships were awarded to John W.Nichols, Wallace M. Stewart, Boden G. Fife, John H. Brown, Cecil C. Goddard, and Robert E. A weekly radio broadcast was commenced on Radio Station 2GB, and early in 1939 the League went into print with regular articles in the magazine, "Air Log". With membership climbing to around 6000, the Air League Council decided to expand the organisation into other states and as a result, in early 1939 a Melbourne office was opened. The first Company opened at Glenhuntly in March, and the response in the southern state was as enthusiastic as it had been in NSW, five years earlier. By mid 1939, 19 metropolitan branches had been formed, with membership over 700. In May 1939, the Air League established itself in Queensland, and within two months had 4 branches operating with 264 members. To cope with the expanding organisation, the publication of the first Handbook was achieved in March 1939.
