The Navigation, Air Electronics, and Telecommunications Training Squadron was a training squadron of the

Royal New Zealand Air Force The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) ( mi, Te Tauaarangi o Aotearoa, "The Warriors of the Sky of New Zealand"; previously ', "War Party of the Blue") is the aerial service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed from New Zeala ...

. It was based at the now-decommissioned

RNZAF Base Wigram The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) ( mi, Te Tauaarangi o Aotearoa, "The Warriors of the Sky of New Zealand"; previously ', "War Party of the Blue") is the aerial service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed from New Zeala ...

, near Christchurch. Equipped with 3

Fokker Friendship The Fokker F27 Friendship is a turboprop airliner developed and manufactured by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It is the most numerous post-war aircraft manufactured in the Netherlands; the F27 was also one of the most successful Europe ...

F27 Mk120s, NATS was responsible for training Navigators (NAV), Air Engineers (AIRENG), Air Electronic Officers/Operators (AEO/AEOP) and from 1977, Telecommunications Operators. Prior to this, it has operated a sizeable fleet (up to a dozen at one time?) of three

de Havilland Devon The de Havilland DH.104 Dove is a British short-haul airliner developed and manufactured by de Havilland. The design, which was a monoplane successor to the pre-war Dragon Rapide biplane, came about from the Brabazon Committee report which, ...

(DH.104) variants. The first being the basic "communications" mini airliner, the next having two nav crates and an astrodome fitted, and the last, the "signals" version, sporting two radio crates for student AEOps to practice their airborne duties. While the aircraft could be operated by a single pilot, Flying Flight of NATS also had four signallers on its establishment and these grand masters of the morse key were essential equipment when the little twin pistons headed off into the cold and icy South Pacific for three hours at a time in the middle of winter. They also gave moral support to the pilot who found himself navigating in the dark on a knee pad to ensure the student passing navigational information forward was not taking him towards the South Pole instead of Wigram airfield. NATS was deactivated in 1990.

References

*Archives
Navigation, Air Electronics, and Telecommunications Training Squadron
*Avionics reunion 2018

Royal New Zealand Air Force squadrons Military units and formations disestablished in 1990 {{NewZealand-stub