No. 34 (VIP) Flight was established at RAAF Base Canberra on 12 March 1956, and charged with the safe carriage of the Governor-General, senior Australian politicians and military officers, and visiting foreign dignitaries. It was formed from the VIP Flight of No. 36 Squadron, under No. 86 (Transport) Wing. The VIP Flight had absorbed the RAAF's Governor-General's Flight in October 1950. In its first year of operation, No. 34 Flight carried the Duke of Edinburgh on his tour of Australia. It was equipped with two Convair 440 Metropolitans, as well as Dakotas. The flight remained in Canberra when No. 86 Wing relocated to Richmond in 1958. On 1 July 1959, it was re-formed as No. 34 (Special Transport) Squadron, leaving the control of No. 86 Wing to become an independent unit directly administered by Home Command and tasked by RAAF Base Canberra. "Possibly because of the rank of its clients", contended the official history of the post-war Air Force, the squadron maintained higher standards than other transport units, adopting some procedures from the civil aviation world. It also benefitted from the personal interest of senior officials when it came to upgrading its equipment, though this had some negative aspects. The acquisition of the Metropolitans, the first pressurised aircraft in the VIP fleet, was organised by Minister for Air Athol Townley without any advance discussion with the RAAF. Although the Air Force raised performance and safety concerns, the type's entry into service was a "fait accompli", and it remained on strength for twelve years. Until the early 1960s, the VIP unit also operated two de Havilland Vampire jets and two CAC Winjeel trainers to allow staff officers at Canberra's Department of Air to maintain their flying proficiency.