What's on at Air Force Museum of New Zealand
Latest from the museum
Latest Exhibition
Defence Photographers
This brand-new exhibition features 40 stunning images from the portfolios of our eight New Zealand Defence Force photographers.
The exhibition also features the story of photography as a trade in the RNZAF, which dates back to 1929, and a display of historic cameras taken from our collection.
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Exhibition
Tall Tails
Our Tall Tails exhibition features the mounted tails of the C-130 Hercules and P-3 Orion, this new exhibition brings visitors closer to two extraordinary aircraft and the stories they carry. It also highlights the importance of finding a permanent home for them, as the Museum continues to fundraise through the Home for Heroes project.
Tall Tails is on display in our Thérèse Angelo Wing.
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Exhibition
The Mighty Hercules
The Mighty Hercules exhibition is on in the Cochrane Gallery upstairs in our atrium. Come and visit and learn all about this extraordinary aircraft.
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Support Us
Home for Heroes
Join us in building a forever home for New Zealand’s C-130 Hercules and P-3 Orion – icons of service.
For more than half a century, these legendary aircraft carried our nation’s courage across the world – in peace, crisis, and discovery. Now, they need a home worthy of their legacy, where their stories of service, innovation and humanity will continue to inspire.
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Birthday Parties
Mission: Best birthday ever
Zip up a flight suit, grab your dog tags, and dive into a fully hosted birthday “mission”. From air & sea adventures for preschoolers to rescue and cadet challenges for older children. Our Programmes team runs the activities, the children get awesome photo moments (and party bags), and you can add catering through our café.
Book a birthday party
Our Aircraft
Explore AircraftMore to explore
❓MYSTERY CONTROL COLUMN COMPETITION❓: This week's mystery control column competition is officially a head scratcher.
All you have to do is identify which aircraft in our collection this control column (we also accept joystick, cyclic or collective) belongs to.
Correct answers will go in the draw to win one of our stunning Air Force Museum of New Zealand roundel coffee mugs.
They are round, with roundels and perfect for tea, coffee and Milo.
The very best of luck. You are going to need a lot of #MysteryObjectbj#wedonthaveacluea#ImpossiblePuzzleuzzle ... See MoreSee Less
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Sea sprite
Seasprite ?
Seasprite. give away is the dual engine instruments visible
Kaman SH-2F Seasprite NZ3442
Seasprite heli!
Kaman SH-2F Seasprite
Kaman SH-2F Sea Sprite
Cyclic flight control SH-2G Seasprite helicopter
Seasprite helicopter
Yep the Seasprite. The inst and the stick grip are American but what clinched it was the dual eng inst and the display
Seasprite
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STRAIT CONQUERED! On this day in 1920 the Canterbury Aviation Company’s chief pilot Captain Euan Dickson, chairman CH Hewlett and mechanic JE Moore made the first successful crossing of Cook Strait in an aircraft.
Captain Dickson and the crew took off from Sockburn in their Avro 504K at 7am, but headwinds forced them to have an unscheduled break in a paddock at Kaikoura.
Undeterred, they set off again, crossed over Blenheim and finally landed at Trentham Racecourse, with a total time elapsed of 4 hours and 40 minutes for the flight.
The Avro carried mail, making it the first air mail flight between the islands.
Euan Dickson was an exceptional pilot by any measure. The British-born Kiwi flew in World War One, completing 175 raids in his De Havilland DH4.
Regarded as the most successful bomber pilot of World War One, he was awarded a Distinguished Service Cross twice, a Distinguished Flying Cross and the French Croix de Guerre medal. He was credited with shooting down 14 enemy aircraft.
Euan died in Auckland in 1980, at the age of 87.
#cookstrait #nzpaf #canterburyaviationcompany ... See MoreSee Less
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The Brits gifted NZ a bunch of these old trainers after the war, right?
Lest we forget!
Such a shame his name graces one of the biggest criminal Hornby streets of the 80 / 90’s
🚨📢❗GET THE KETTLE ON, WE HAVE A WINNER! 🚨📢❗Take a bow Jen Dabney, winner of our latest Mystery Airfield competition.
It was indeed RNZAF Station Rukuhia - we thought the Waikato fog might have been a giveaway!
These days the perfectly positioned airfield near the Waikato River is the mighty Hamilton International Airport, where the big jet engines roar (to paraphrase Susan Raye's 1971 hit tune).
Well done Jen and to everyone who got it right.
We will fire up the Bristol Freighter and fly your exclusive Air Force Museum of New Zealand roundel mug out to you Jen - you just need to email communications@airforcemuseum.co.nz and give us your details.
We are cooking up a trickier one for next week, stay sharp everyon#mysteryairfieldfi#RNZAFr#HamiltonAirportrp#mysteryairfieldfield ... See MoreSee Less
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Is that the NZ Aero/ Pacific Aerospace hangar in the first picture? I didn't know it was a RNZAF station.
Well done that person.
Congratulations to the winner