RNZAF Base Woodbourne is a base of the Royal New Zealand Air Force, located 8 km west of Blenheim. Woodbourne was established in 1939 as the base for No. 2 Service Flying Training School (No.2 SFTS). Also located nearby during World War II were the ground training camps of the Delta. In 1942–43,

No. 16 Squadron RNZAF No. 16 Squadron was a fighter squadron of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. Formed in July 1942 at RNZAF Base Woodbourne, the squadron was equipped with Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawks and later F4U Corsairs. The squadron fought in the Southwest Pacifi ...

and

No. 18 Squadron RNZAF No. 18 Squadron was a squadron of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. Formed in June 1943 at RNZAF Base Woodbourne, the squadron was initially equipped with Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawks, before converting to F4U-1 Corsair fighter bombers in 1944. The ...

Squadrons flying

Curtiss P-40 Warhawk The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time an ...

s used the satellite Fairhall field.Cambidgeairforce.org
The Marlborough Region
/ref> In 1945 No.2 SFTS was closed and the Royal New Zealand Air Force

Central Flying School The Central Flying School (CFS) is the Royal Air Force's primary institution for the training of military flying instructors. Established in 1912 at the Upavon Aerodrome, it is the longest existing flying training school. The school was based at ...

and some ground training units, including the Officers' School of Instruction were relocated to Woodbourne. In 1949, The Aircraft Repair Depot RNZAF was relocated from

Ohakea RNZAF Base Ohakea is an operational base of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. Opened in 1939, it is located near Bulls, 25 km north-west of Palmerston North in the Manawatu. It is also a diversion landing point for civilian aircraft. The bas ...

, and in 1951 the Boy Entrant School was established at Woodbourne. Today, Woodbourne is the Air Force's only support base and has no operational squadrons based there. It shares its runways with the Blenheim civil airport,

Woodbourne Airport Woodbourne Airport trading as Marlborough Airport is a small, controlled airport located 8 km west of Blenheim in the Marlborough region of New Zealand, on , Middle Renwick Road. It is co-located with RNZAF Base Woodbourne in the Wairau V ...

. The Ground Training Wing was created in 1995 from existing units at Woodbourne and those relocated from

Wigram Wigram is a suburb in the southwest of Christchurch, New Zealand. The suburb lies close to the industrial estates of Sockburn and the satellite retail and residential zone of Hornby, and has undergone significant growth in recent years due to h ...

and

Hobsonville Hobsonville is a suburb in West Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand. The area was administered by Waitakere City Council until the council was amalgamated into Auckland Council in 2010. Hobsonville Point, formerly the location of t ...

, and is responsible for the training of recruits ( General Service Training School), initial officer training ( Command Training School), trade training (except aircrew, medical and photography training) and command training. Woodbourne was the Air Force's only heavy maintenance facility for the repair of aircraft airframes, engines and avionics systems. This

squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...

was responsible for reconditioning airframes of RNZAF aircraft. It was known as the Airframe Reconditioning Squadron RNZAF. The unit was commercialised in 1998 and was managed by SAFE Air Ltd. In 2015 SAFE Air Ltd was purchased by

Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: ' ...

and it continues to maintain military aircraft. SAFE Air Ltd formally relinquished the name and now trades under Airbus Asia Pacific. Airbus is currently finishing the last of the Air Force's C-130 Hercules airframe refurbishments. This will see the most highly houred C-130 Hercules (NZ7002) remain in flying service. Personnel strength around 800

Units based at Woodbourne

*RNZAF Police *RNZAF Rescue Fire *

NZDF The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF; mi, Te Ope Kātua o Aotearoa, "Line of Defence of New Zealand") are the armed forces of New Zealand. The NZDF is responsible for the protection of the national security of New Zealand and her realm, promoti ...

Physical Training Instructor Physical training instructor (PTI) is a term used primarily in the British Armed Forces and British police, as well as some other Commonwealth countries, for an instructor in physical fitness. United Kingdom In the British Army, specialist Ph ...

s School *

RNZAF Security Forces RNZAF Security Forces is the Royal New Zealand Air Force unit responsible for base security, ground defence, weapons training, and Air Transport Security on RNZAF aircraft. RNZAF Security Forces operates under the RNZAF Operations Squadron. RN ...

*RNZAF Logistics *Base Medical *

*Directorate of Defence Security *

Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT) is a public tertiary education institution at the top of the South Island in New Zealand. NMIT's main campus is in Nelson with other campuses in Blenheim, Marlborough, Woodbourne and Richmon ...

Aeronautical Engineering programme

References

External links

RNZAF Base Woodbourne
Woodbourne Buildings and structures in the Marlborough Region 1939 establishments in New Zealand Transport buildings and structures in the Marlborough Region {{Fort-stub

Units based at Woodbourne

See also

References

External links