KidsFest Fun

These July School Holidays, celebrate helicopters and all things rotary at the Air Force Museum!

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Museum Hunts

With regularly changing themes and challenges, our hunts are a fun way for families to explore the Museum together.

Visit

Find out everything you need to know to plan your visit to the Air Force Museum.

Shop

Browse our fantastic range of aviation-themed gifts and products in the one-stop-shop for aircraft enthusiasts of all ages! Every purchase directly supports the work we do to preserve and share New Zealand’s military history.

Explore our collection

Still life featuring a negative, light meter, gloves and a magnifier. Air Force museum of New Zealand.

Photographs

Browse digitised parts of our photograph collection online.

Exhibitions

Captured!

Follow the journey of a prisoner of war in Europe during World War Two in this interactive exhibition which will engage visitors of all ages.

Stories About Modern Day Heroes

In April 2021 the Museum organised a short story competition where tamariki were asked to write about a hero in their lives. Read more now!

Read our Blog

Watercolour – ‘Air Force Day 1981’ by Wing Commander Maurice Conly. Artwork depicts the two United States Force F-15 aircraft on the tarmac at the Open Day: F-15c 780500 (left) and F15c 780508 (right) both from the 67th Fighter Squadron, 5th Air Force USAF. From the collection of the Air Force Museum of New Zealand.

Air Force Day ’81

By Murray McGuigan | 02/03/2021

The end of Summer in 1981 at RNZAF Base Ohakea was marked by a full-scale episode of PDA. Not a public display of affection (although who’s to say that didn’t happen?) but a public display of aircraft.

Aerial oblique view of Corsair NZ5320, from No. 3 Servicing Unit, after crash landing in Piako Swamp, 27 October 1944. Image ref HIST489, RNZAF Official.

‘A few of our favourite things’: celebrating 1 year of our photos online

By Air Force Museum | 19/02/2021

Since launching in February 2020, our online photo collection has been accessed by thousands of people across the world. These are a few of our team’s favourite photos from the online collection.

An Avro 504K of the Canterbury Aviation Company, similar to the one which made the first mail run in 1921. Image ref WgG2566-78_1, Air Force Museum of New Zealand.

New Zealand’s first scheduled air mail service

By Simon Moody | 29/01/2021

On 31 January 1921, a small Avro 504 biplane of the Canterbury (NZ) Aviation Company took off from Sockburn Aerodrome, carrying the first scheduled airmail service to commence in New Zealand.

Sergeant Phil Lane, wearing a gas mask, on security duty on the tarmac in front of No. 40 Squadron Hercules NZ7003. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Feb-Mar 1991. Image ref PD14-2-91, RNZAF Official.

Remembering Operation Desert Storm: the RNZAF and the Gulf War, 1991

By Simon Moody | 18/01/2021

30 years ago, operations against Iraq ended with the conclusion of Operation Desert Storm. During this brief but decisive conflict, RNZAF personnel were deployed in support of the wider Coalition against Iraq’s dictator, Saddam Hussein, and his forces.