In March 1912, Watt recommended a location in Canberra near the Royal Military College, Duntroon, as a base for the Army's proposed Central Flying School. Owing to its altitude and nearby mountainous terrain, the site was rejected by the school's nominated commanding officer, Lieutenant Henry Petre. Petre eventually chose 297 hectares at Point Cook, Victoria, an area suitable for seaplanes as well as land-based aircraft, to become the "birthplace of Australian military aviation". Watt also advocated manufacturing foreign-designed aircraft under licence in Australia, but this would not be pursued until after World War I. In 1913 he was divorced on the grounds of "misconduct" with actress Ivy Schilling, and lost custody of his son in the judgment. He then went to Egypt, where he purchased and practised flying a Blériot XI monoplane; while there he met leading French aviators Louis Blériot and Roland Garros.