On Thursday, 80 cadets from across Victoria gathered at the new squadron’s base, the Moorabbin Air Museum, for a fun day of drills, building aeroplane models and learning about aviation.

AAL Victoria Group Commander Adrianne Fleming said the Moorabbin squadron, which now has 14 cadets, was seeking new members.

“They meet for squadron parade nights for two hours once a week,” Ms Fleming said.

“There they learn the ceremonial drill, physical training, model aircraft building and aviation theory classes like navigation and aircraft engines.

“There’s first aid and life-saving training and there’s camping and even cooking classes.”

Ms Fleming said that once a year the Victorian squadrons competed in aviation education and drills – with this year’s meeting to be held in Moorabbin in September – and held fun nights, swimming and athletics carnivals.

She said the young cadets were enthusiastic learners.

“Most people you speak to who love aviation fell in love with it when they were a kid so you see a lot of that passion in the cadets,” Ms Fleming said.

“We do drills that involve a lot of self-discipline, which you don’t see much any more. There’s a rank structure so the cadets can become officers and leaders and that builds their confidence into other areas of life.”

Cadets can range from eight to 18 years and details can be found here.