Air Force Museum of New Zealand

Air Force Museum of New Zealand

14 hours ago

URGENT CLARIFICATION: It has come to our attention there may be widespread confusion out there between the frigate bird and the Frigate ship, which we’re keen to clear up even though it is technically outside of our confusional jurisdiction.

This is unsurprising of course. As well as sharing a name, the frigate bird and the ship are both beautifully-designed sea goers which packed a mean punch, and they do look remarkably similar, as our pictures show.

So we’ve prepared a handy three-step guide to help you tell them apart.

Please note, for the purposes of today’s clarification we are using the Frigate HMNZS Otago for comparison purposes, because, as you all know, Frigate ships date back to the 17th century and have many variations.

We’ll start today in the armament department.

Frigate birds come armed with a wicked looking hooked bill, which is their chief weapon for hunting.

This single weapon system helped distinguished the bird from Frigate ships, which, in the case of the Otago, came armed with four main offensive systems - Mk 6 twin 4.5-inch guns, a single Mk 9 L60 40 mm Bofors gun, 12 21-inch torpedo tubes and two Limbo anti-submarine.

The second main difference came in fuelling.

Frigate birds are sustained on a diet consisting of mostly small fish and the odd squid and are fuelled via a top hatch.

Navy frigates only ran on naval diesel fuel oil and needed a lot of it.

Finally, and you’ll kick yourself once it is pointed out, the biggest tell of all is in their plumage.

Male frigate birds were adorned with a purple sheen as well as a beautiful scarlet throat patch which could be inflated in the breeding season to attract mates.

By comparison naval Frigate plumage was purposely dull.

HMNZS Otago was painted in the standard North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ‘haze gray’ – a dull colour but good for not drawing attention to the ship, especially outside of the breeding season.

So, there you have it, another clarification you thought you'd never need. Never confuse your aerial and naval frigates again.

You’re welcome.

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Air Force Museum of New Zealand

2 days ago

On this day, 85 years ago in May 1941, Kiwis were fighting for their lives on the ground and in the skies above the island of Crete.

Three young Kiwi aviators were among those killed as the Royal Air Force fought in the Battle of Crete, and we’ve put poppies beside their names on our Roll of Honour to remember them today.

German forces had invaded Crete on 20 May, and Allied forces, including 7700 New Zealanders, were hard pressed to defend the island.

Pilot Officer Howard Fleming Irving was an observer aboard No. 45 Squadron Bristol Blenheim Z5896 which set out for a raid on Maleme Airfield on the island at 3am on 27 May.

The aircraft climbed steeply after take-off, stalled, and Howard Irving was killed in the crash.

Howard was a shepherd from Tolaga Bay before the war. He was 25 when he died, and he is buried at El Alamein cemetery, Egypt.

Later in the day No. 14 Squadron Blenheim T2338 left its base in Egypt for another raid on Maleme Airfield, with Kiwi pilot Flying Officer Murray MacKenzie at the controls.

The Blenheim was lost in the desert on the return flight. Four of the crew survived, but Murray was never found.

Murray was a farmer before the war at Tai Tapu, near Christchurch. He left New Zealand for England to train as a pilot in 1938. He was 27, and on his 50th operation, when he died. He is commemorated at El Alamein cemetery.

Sergeant Douglas Gordon Callender was an observer aboard No. 55 Squadron Blenheim T2175 which set out at 2.30pm on 27 May to attack Maleme.

The aircraft was lost over the desert on the return journey to Egypt, and Douglas is buried at El Alamein cemetery. He was just 24 years old when he was killed.

While most of the Kiwi soldiers made it off Crete in a massive evacuation by the Royal Navy, 2000 were taken prisoner after the surrender on 1 June.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

Photo: German paratroopers in the Battle of Crete - Wikicommons.

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Air Force Museum of New Zealand

3 days ago

PIONEER CHENG: Set the calendar back to January 1962, and a young aviator called Soon Lian Cheng landed at Christchurch Airport aboard an RNZAF Devon, after a five-day trip from Kuala Lumpur.

He and his colleague Buang Ahmad were the first Malayan pilots on a training exchange with the RNZAF, learning their trade in the mighty North American Harvards at RNZAF Station Wigram.

Cheng, who was back this week for a class reunion with No. 36 Pilots’ Course, recalls the flight had to divert that day because it couldn’t land at Wigram for a very special reason.

“We had to land at Harewood because Stirling Moss was racing around Wigram, competing in the Lady Wigram Trophy.’’

He was welcomed at No. 2 Mess – where beer was given out in flagons - and sent out to watch the racing. Stirling Moss won in his Lotus 21.

It was a fine start to a year-long adventure for Cheng, and the beginning of a long career in the Royal Malaysian Air Force. He retired in 1996 as a Brigadier General.

After completing his training in New Zealand, he went on to fly Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneers in the confrontation with Indonesia.

Since retiring he has been a regular visitor to Christchurch for reunions and loves catching up with his Kiwi mates from No. 36.

After 63 years there have been a lot of reunions, and he’s already planning to be at the next one.

He's in the front row, far left in the photo. His colleague Buang, far right, was sadly killed a few years later in an accident.

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