The Air Force Museum of New Zealand, formerly called The Royal New Zealand Air Force Museum, is located at

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 ...

, the RNZAF's first operational base, in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, in the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

of New Zealand. It opened on 1 April 1987 as part of the celebrations for the RNZAF's 50th anniversary, and is primarily a museum 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 ...

, its predecessor, the New Zealand Permanent Air Force and New Zealand squadrons of the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

. The Air Force Museum of New Zealand's mission is to preserve and present the history of New Zealand military aviation for commemoration, learning, inspiration and enjoyment.

Overview

The Museum holds the national collection of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. The collection includes objects covering the early days of New Zealand military aviation both prior to World War I and during this major conflict, the interwar years which saw the formation of the RNZAF in 1937, New Zealanders who fought in the RAF and in other Allied air forces during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the RNZAF's campaign in the Pacific, and the post-war period to the present day. The collection also includes objects from former enemy forces, aircraft, aircraft components, aircraft engines, large objects, textiles, art and memorabilia as well as an extensive paper and photographic archive. Visitors can take a half-hour guided tour through 'behind the scenes' areas of the Museum, which includes the Reserve Collection hangar. The Museum's most recent restoration project, an

Airspeed Oxford The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford is a twin-engine monoplane aircraft developed and manufactured by Airspeed. It saw widespread use for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery roles throughout the Seco ...

, is now on public display since February 2016. The Museum also has a Mosquito Flight Simulator, which features a mission based on the Allied bombing of German battleships in the Norwegian fiords. In response to the 2011 earthquake, the museum opened its collections storage facility to other cultural institutions that had been damaged.

Aircraft

* Aermacchi MB-339CB ''NZ6460'' *

''PK286'' * Auster T.7 ''NZ1707'' *

Avro 626 The Avro 626 is a single-engined British biplane trainer aircraft produced by Avro during the (1918-1939) inter-war period. Design and development The Model 626 was developed by Avro from the company's Model 621 (Tutor) for export to smalle ...

''NZ203'' *

Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) a ...

''Composite'' *

BAC Strikemaster The BAC 167 Strikemaster is a British jet-powered training and light attack aircraft. It was a development of the Hunting Jet Provost trainer, itself a jet engined version of the Percival Provost, which originally flew in 1950 with a radial p ...

''NZ6373'' * Bell 47G-3 Sioux ''NZ3705'' * Bell UH-1H Iroquois ''69-15923'' * Bell UH-1H Iroquois ''NZ3801'' * Bleriot XI ''"Britannia"'' – Replica *

Boeing 727 The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airpo ...

''NZ7272'' – Forward fuselage, engine, main undercarriage * Bristol Freighter Mk 31M ''NZ5903'' *

Cessna O-2A Skymaster The Cessna O-2 Skymaster (nicknamed "Oscar Deuce") is a military version of the Cessna 337 Super Skymaster, used for forward air control (FAC) and psychological operations (PSYOPS) by the US military between 1967 and 2010. Design and developm ...

''69-7639'' * Curtiss P-40F Kittyhawk ''41-14205'' *

de Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s British biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other operators as a primary trainer aircraft. ...

''NZ1481'' * de Havilland Vampire FB.5 ''NZ5757'' * de Havilland Vampire T.11 ''NZ5710'' *

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, ...

''NZ1803'' *

de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver The de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver is a single-engined high-wing propeller-driven short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft developed and manufactured by de Havilland Canada. It has been primarily operated as a bush plane and has been used ...

''1084'' * Douglas C-47B Dakota ''NZ3551'' * GAF Canberra B.20 ''A84-240'' * Grumman TBF-1C Avenger ''NZ2504'' * Hawker Siddeley Andover C.1 ''NZ7621'' *

Kaman SH-2F Seasprite The Kaman SH-2 Seasprite is a ship-based helicopter originally developed and produced by American manufacturer Kaman Aircraft Corporation. It has been typically used as a compact and fast-moving rotorcraft for utility and anti-submarine warfar ...

''NZ3442'' *

Lockheed Hudson III The Lockheed Hudson is a light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built by the American Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. It was initially put into service by the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and prim ...

''NZ2013'' * McDonnell Douglas A-4C Skyhawk ''NZ6205'' * McDonnell Douglas A-4K Skyhawk ''NZ6207'' * McDonnell Douglas TA-4K Skyhawk ''NZ6254'' * North American Harvard III ''NZ1087'' *

North American P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter aircraft, fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team ...

''F-367'' * Pacific Aerospace CT-4B Airtrainer ''NZ1948'' *

Sopwith Pup The Sopwith Pup is a British single-seater biplane fighter aircraft built by the Sopwith Aviation Company. It entered service with the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps in the autumn of 1916. With pleasant flying characteristi ...

– Replica * Supermarine Spitfire XVI ''TE288'' *

Westland Wasp HAS.1 The Westland Wasp is a small 1960s British turbine powered, shipboard anti-submarine helicopter. Produced by Westland Helicopters, it came from the same Saro P.531, P.531 programme as the British Army Westland Scout, and is based on the earli ...

''NZ3906''

Under restoration

* Canadian Vickers PBV-1A Catalina ''44-34081'' *

Vickers Vildebeest The Vickers Vildebeest and the similar Vickers Vincent were two very large two- to three-seat single-engined British biplanes designed and built by Vickers and used as light bombers, torpedo bombers and in army cooperation roles. First flown i ...

/Vincent ''NZ102/NZ124/NZ105/NZ355/NZ357''

References

External links

Air Force Museum of New Zealand
{{authority control Museums in Christchurch Royal New Zealand Air Force Aerospace museums in New Zealand Air force museums National museums of New Zealand Museums established in 1987 Military and war museums in New Zealand 1987 establishments in New Zealand