As a fromer member of RQAC in it heyday it was a great meeting place for the whole of Archerfield. Private Pilots were enthusiastic, the bar was packed and there were lots of flyaways and competitions etc. However as Dick Smith has pointed out the aerodromes of Australia are being denuded of GA. There does not seem to be , with a couple of exceptions such as RACWA the interest in private flying. It become rather expensive and the CASA regulator approach is strangling the industry under the guise of "safety". The pollies won't tackle any issue if safety is thrown back in your face. A bit like doctors "Shroud Waving" at any attempt to reform the health industry.
Its just become too complicated for many to fly privately, too many changes to keep up with - hence the growth in RAAus.
RQAC suffered from a lack of private flying and were left with little choice but to go don the full-time cadet pathway with the Airline Academy. In fact a couple of their clients such as Qantas, China Airlines and Boeing who did the MPL beta trial with the club insisted on not dealing with an aero club and hence the balance tipped towards AAA - thought it did not look professional enough I have heard. Likewise with GU.
What happens next is that you loose control of your own business. These big airline and uni customers end up telling you how to run your business and the trouble is they know SFA about GA.
Operating a business out of somewhere like Archerfield where the rents and landing fees are a major factor to be borne in the hourly rate of flying means that AF and the likes cannot compete in the private flying market with say Redcliffe or Caloundra where the councils charge more modest rent that the private owners of AF don't and there are no landing fees.
The private pilots and the pay as you earn to fund your CPL pilots are the heart and soul of an aero club.
The cadets from airlines and unis have no allegiance or loyalty to an aero club. You will probably never clap eyes on them again when they leave.
It was RQACs problem and one for lots of flying schools across the land.
That and the regulator are the big strategic problems facing GA and the leadership of CASA and ASA show no insight into the problem and seem trapped by their own paradigm and their RAAF backgrounds which are about as removed from GA as you can get.
If we could only undo the privatisation of airports and reform CASA there is a glimmer of hope. Unfortunately neither is remotely likely. Lets hope the likes of operators in non former secondary airports keep going so that there is somewhere for us to fly and enjoy it at a reasonable price.