By the end of the Summer of 1971 the club had a membership of approximately thirty members and Arthur Brennan had become the Chief Flying Instructor and by the end of the year Colum Johnston had joined as an instructor. The airfield was now owned by Peter Matson who was also a keen aviator who operated a Cherokee 140, reg. EI-ATN from Coonagh.

After twenty-four months in existence the club could now boast a membership of 52 and EI-AOO had flown nearly 300 hours. In April 1974, Tony Doyle returned from his tour of duties with Euro Control in Luxembourg. He brought with him Rallye F-BLSP which became EI-AYV. Tony later hired this to a flying club which was starting up at Anaghmore, near Collooney, Co. Sligo. Another resident at Coonagh was Rallye F-OCVK which was owned by George Oriel a teacher working in a local school.

In 1974 Gary Young became the clubs second Chief Flying Instructor. During 1975, RWY 18/36 which had been inactive for some years was re-opened and the flying rate was £9 per hour. In 1976, EI-AOO having been initially sold to Des McCarthy, was reregistered to Dick Hassett. Later that year the club decided to buy Rallye G-AVVK which was re-registered EI-AUP. In 1977, Tom Davy stepped in as Chief Flying Instructor and the club leased in another Rallye, EI-AUJ to meet the demand of itsmembers. Dan Lehane purchased the airfield from Peter Matson in 1978. In December 1979 the club’s membership stood at 80 members and the CFI was Tony Doyle.

In 1982 the club bought Rallye EI-BDK. The club held several successful safety seminars during the 80’s with well-known guest speakers, including Alan Bramson who was a flight test examiner with the C.A.A and who is quoted as saying “If one could land at Coonagh, you can land anywhere”. 1984 was to see the club undertake its first major public event when they embarked on an airshow which was to be held on July 22nd of that year. The day proved to be very successful with thousands attending the event.

In 1985 the Club bought Rallye EI-BOP to replace EI-AUP. In 1986 the club decided to celebrate the bi-centenary of the first balloon ascent which had taken place from Clancy’s strand in 1786. A balloon was to be inflated at Arthur’s quay carpark but the Dept. of Communications would only allow the event to go ahead if the balloon was tethered. In March 1986 EI-BOP was replaced with EI-BKU and in 1988 Limerick Flying Club became a limited company. On the 4th of July 1989 the club took delivery of Rallye EI-BGB which had been bought from Sammy Bruton of Midland Aviation.

By 1990 the runway at Coonagh was in a bad condition and the club decided to run a draw to help raise the fund to re-surface it. The draw proved to be very successful and with the co-operation of Dan Lehane the work on the runway commenced on the 14th of June 1990. The next two years proved to be very successful for the club with many members getting their PPL’s, Instrument Ratings and Commercial Pilot’s License’s. In 1991 EI-BGB was replaced with Rallye EI-AYA and the club bought a Beechcraft 23 EI-BFF to replace EI-BKU. By June of 1993 the flying at Coonagh had dropped off considerably and over the next two and a half years there was a general slump in aviation everywhere which resulted in many clubs finding it difficult to stay in the air.

David Fielding became President of the club in 1994 and Sean Walsh was appointed Deputy CFI. The club did not have enough demand for two training aircraft and it was decided to lease EI-BDK to the Castlebar Flying Club. Over the next two years the club struggled back and a draw was organised in February 1996. Both EI-BDK and EI-AYA had major overhauls completed on their engines. EI-BFF was sold to Midland Aviation and in return the club bought Rallye EI-BFM. After 1995 the club went from strength to strength with the club then operating two training aircraft, one touring aircraft and had over one hundred members.

In August 1997 the club hosted another major fly-in and social gathering to celebrate the Fiftieth Anniversary of the establishment of Coonagh Aerodrome by the late Arthurs Toppin. A specially commissioned sign was hung on the outside wall of the hangar. Shortly afterwards a completely refurbished clubhouse was opened by Captain Darby Kennedy of Weston. A plaque he presented to mark the occasion hangs in the club house.

Despite the economic challenges faced by the club at the turn of the millennium the club was operating four aircraft – EI-BPF, EI-BMJ. G-BXZT (all MS880B Rallyes) and EI-BHY a 150 HP Rallye. In the early noughties the club disposed of EI-BHY and acquired a Koliber 150 EI-DOY which was imported from the USA.

In 2004 the club saw a major changing of the guard when long term CFI Tony Doyle retired from the role. He was succeeded by Brendan Beegan who was also one of the club’s founding members.

As the club moved towards the middle noughties, it became apparent the challenge of retaining Rallyes was now a problem. After extensive research the club moved its search for suitable aircraft to Italy and bought to two Tecnam P2002JFs. EI-LFC was delivered to Coonagh in a marathon flight from Capua near Naples in July 2007. The delivery flight by Brendan Beegan and John Keane took three days. Tragically John Keane passed away a week later following an aerobatics accident in Ardfert Co Kerry. The Tecnam EI-LFC is known as “The Captain” in John’s memory. A year later the second Tecnam was registered EI-JPK using John’s initials.

After selling Koliber EI-DOY, the club bought an Aero A3 – G-DPEP. That was subsequently disposed of as the economic challenges returned. In 2010 the club embarked on one of its most ambitious adventures ever when some 10 aircraft and 22 members made an overnight trip to Enniskillen and Sligo followed by a quick trip to Carrickfinn Airport in Donegal. The following year another large group of seven aircraft made the trip to Newtownards in Co Down for their Fly-in.

In 2010 the club erected a second hangar to accommodate the growing fleet of aircraft owned by club members based at Coonagh. It also acquired a new OPS Building which serves as a wonderful base of flight operations, administration, and training centre.

Through the Two Thousand Teens the club continued to prosper with increasing membership and flight hours. In 2019 Brendan Beegan CFI for the previous fifteen years handed over the role of CFI to another long-time member and former Club Chairman David Fielding. Later in the year in August 2019 the club acquired EI-WFD, its third Tecnam from Waterford Aero Club. However, a few shorts weeks later the airfield suffered a major flooding incident when the nearby River Shannon’s bank was breeched. The club was shut for several weeks while the airfield dried out and remedial work was carried out on all ten aircraft that were caught in the flood.

The Spring of 2020 brought new challenges to the entire world in the form of COVID-19. This impacted the club quite a bit when there were extended periods of no or just limited operations during the first year.

Operations reached a twenty year high in 2022 with more than 850 flight hours. It also saw the end of David Fielding’s tenure as Chief Flying Instructor. He transferred the reigns to another long-time member and Instructor David Ward who is now the club’s CFI.

The club also celebrated seventy-five years of continuous flying operations at Coonagh Aerodrome. A very successful fly-in was held in August 2022 at which the General Officer Commanding the Irish Air Corps Brig-Gen Rory O’Connor made a special presentation to the club in recognition of its and Coonagh’s contribution to Irish Aviation over three quarters of a century. To mark the event the club updated the signage on the hangar wall using a 1940’s Art Decco style which was unveiled in early 2023.

The club is now into the third decade of the 21 st Century as the sole operator of the Tecnam P2002JF in Ireland. It continues to go from strength to strength with over 100 members. The club continues to operate its three Tecnam’s alongside another eight aircraft based at Coonagh which are owned by groups of club members.

In the period 2021 to 2023, twenty-two members have completed their first solo flights with eight successfully completing their Private Pilot training in 2022-24. This level of success was marked with a special Wings presentation ceremony in August 2023 to six of those members.

The club owes its success to the vision of its founding members – Bryan Carpenter (RIP), Brendan Beegan and Foncy Hobbins. It has also benefited hugely from the enthusiasm of a large cohort of Committed members over the fifty plus years who have steadfastly followed the Club’s core ethos to –“FLY for FUN”.