What's on at Air Force Museum of New Zealand
Latest from the museum
New Exhibition
Victory!
This year marks 80 years since the end of the Second World War.
A new exhibition, called Victory, marks this significant milestone in world history, and the story of the RNZAF.
Victory includes images and memories of Victory in Europe (VE) Day and Victory over Japan (VJ) Day which have been sourced from photographs, letters, postcards and personal histories in our collection.
Victory includes insights into how Kiwis celebrated, and how they felt.
Many found it difficult to rejoice after so much loss and suffering.
You’re welcome to come along and learn all about the end of World War Two with us. The exhibition is on in our upstairs balcony in the atrium.
New Exhibition
The Mighty Hercules
We are delighted to let you know that our latest exhibition, the Mighty Hercules, is now open. Come and visit and learn all about this extraordinary aircraft.
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#Extraordinaryaircraft
Help us build a home for our #extraordinaryaircraft
Our Lockheed C-130H (NZ) Hercules and P-3K2 Orion have had long-term preservation work completed so they can be safely stored while we work on plans for a new permanent exhibition space large enough to house them.
Measuring 29.8m from nose to tail, with a wingspan of 40.5m and a tail soaring to just under 11m high, the Hercules is too large for our current exhibition halls. The Orion is almost as tall and even longer – stretching to 36m thanks to its submarine-detecting tail boom.
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Update
New charge for overseas visitors
A $15 entry charge was introduced for all international visitors to the Air Force Museum of New Zealand from 31 March 2025. Tickets available online or from our Welcome Desk on arrival.
We were sorry to have to charge after being free for so many years, but the charge is required to cover rising costs and to contribute to our new $16 million extension to house the newest members of our collection – our historic Hercules and Orion aircraft.
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Our Aircraft
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SUMNER SIOUX SUNDAY: Try saying that quickly!
Our picture shows a swarm of Sioux over Sumner Beach , Peoples' Republic of Ōtautahi Christchurch, some time in the 1980s (at a guess - our photo file did not specify a date.)
If you’d like a rare chance to see inside the cockpit of our Sioux, along with our Wasp and Iroquois they will all be open to view at our Helicopter Frenzy open cockpit event on the weekend of 6-7 September.
As well as giving dads a break from the socks and hankies, the two-day Father’s Day special is a fundraiser to go towards building our big grey beasts – the Lockheed P-3K2 Orion and C-130H Hercules - a new display hall.
Book your reasonably priced tickets at: airforcemuseum.co.nz/events/fathers-day-special-helicopter-frenzy
#urgentclarification #christchurchnz #bellsioux #sumnerrocks #rnzafpastandpresent #christchurchnz ... See MoreSee Less
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Pretty darned sure I remember that event. I can't remember the date but maybe it was as late as 1993, marking the time when the Pilot Training School moved away from Wigram?
hope those are fitted to them . .
We saw a group of them in UK while attending the Midlands Airshow in May.
I thought it was someone's inexpensive replay of the helicopter attack from the movie "Apocalypse Now".
So if you guys have 2, are any other Souix around? And none fly if others are still around?
When was the last time 5rnzaf choppers were in the air at the same time??
Can anyone hear the MASH theme playing? 🤔😅
it wasn't Ōtautahi then. It was just Christchurch. It still is today exceptfor a few arogant f..k-wits.
I can hear the M.A.S.H theme looking at this photo.
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ATTENTION ENTYMOLOGISTS! We wish to clarify that our Father’s Day Helicopter Frenzy (Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 September) applies to the Westland Wasp HAS1, and not the common Wasp or Vespula vulgaris.
We’re braced for a flood of queries from the etymology community about our planned Wasp open cockpit special. This is not surprising given the Vespula vulgaris and the Westland share the same name, are remarkably similar in an insecty sort of way and come with a nasty sting.
So, we’ve prepared a handy guide so you can tell them apart at a glance.
First of all – and most obvious – is that the common Wasp is powered by two wings, while the Westland Wasp is powered by a 710-shaft horsepower Rolls-Royce/Bristol Nimbus 503 connected to a four-blade rotor.
The second is the camouflage. Our Wasp comes in Royal New Zealand Navy blue, while the common Wasp comes in a yellow and black livery, not dissimilar to Taranaki rugby or Wellington Phoenix colours.
Finally, the Westland Wasp has four wheels for descending gracefully onto heaving Frigates in heavy seas, while the common Wasp has a six-leg undercarriage configuration and was not as suited to maritime conditions.
If you’d like a rare chance to see inside our Westland Wasp, it will be open to view alongside our Bell UH-1H Iroquois and everyone’s favourite, the Bell 47G Sioux on the weekend of 6-7 September.
As well as giving dads a break from the socks and hankies, the two-day Father’s Day special is a fundraiser to go towards building our big grey beasts – the Lockheed P-3K2 Orion and C-130H Hercules - a new display hall.
Book your reasonably priced tickets at: airforcemuseum.co.nz/events/fathers-day-special-helicopter-frenzy/
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There's still a few flying in the UK!
Fun fact, in Royal Navy service the Wasp was capable of delivering a WE.177 nuclear bomb as an anti submarine depth charge, as seen loaded in this pic. Minus doors, most of the crew, and possibly any chance of survival though 🙂
I might be wrong, but I think wasps (the small black and yellow ones 😁) have actually 4 wings, not 2
Thank you Royal Air Force Museum of New Zealand for that clarification! That had certainly cleared up a lot of my confusion! 😁
I have noticed that the four-blade wasp seems to be more robust than the two-wing version, in that it needs something more substantial to shoot it down than a rolled-up newspaper.
Curiously enough, true wasps also have an anchor pattern on their foreheads, clearly designating them for shipboard life :-)
With the number of top hat repairs carried out on Wasp Flight I am not sure graceful is the description I would use for those landings…but a mighty hunter nonetheless.
I think that the top one has more sting .....
Attended the crash of a parrafin parrot off Torpedo Bay Auckland harbour 1st Dec 1973 sent into the drink to secure a line to the rotor head only one of the 2 flotation devices had deployed so it was heeled over at quite an angle nice way to spend my 19th birthday not sure if it was off the Waikato or the Canterbury long time ago now
During Air Engineering training at HMS Sultan in Gosport we had to clean a Wasp, in the middle of summer, wearing full NBCD kit, including gas mask. It was rather sweaty....🥵
Whacked one that was buzzing around today. Better go back and check it was the right kind.
That's a great photo comparison, at first glance just wasn't sure I could tell them apart... The colour of course gave it away upon closer inspection
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RNZAF vets tell their stories on VJ Day. Thank you TVNZ! ... See MoreSee Less
'War is useless': Vets aged over 100 mark V-J Day with frank words
www.1news.co.nz
WWII ended 80 years ago today. Arthur Driver, Les Winslade and Bill Morton were there – and one of them almost didn't make it home. Here are their stories.Comment on Facebook