New exhibiton: Insights
Insights
Caldwell Gallery
From delicate pastel and crayon sketches to the brutality of a crash-damaged German bomber engine, Insights offers a tantalising peek at the breadth and depth of our collection. Like many museums, space constraints mean that only a fraction of our one million or so objects can ever be on display. It is a collection containing stories more than 100 years in the making and a source of endless fascination for the team of people who work to catalogue, conserve and care for it.
Find out more
From delicate pastel and crayon sketches to the brutality of a crash-damaged German bomber engine, Insights offers a tantalising peek at the breadth and depth of our collection. Like many museums, space constraints mean that only a fraction of our one million or so objects can ever be on display. It is a collection containing stories more than 100 years in the making and a source of endless fascination for the team of people who work to catalogue, conserve and care for it.
Featured Exhibition
P-3 Orion
Located upstairs in our Cochrane Gallery, our Orion exhibition traces the origins and service history of the RNZAF’s fleet of maritime aircraft which performed exceptional service for almost 60 years.
The exhibition includes a scale model of the aircraft dating back to 1968, and a 13-minute documentary featuring interviews with pilots and crew, and a yachtie rescued by the aircraft back in 1994.
P-3 Orion: The story of an extraordinary aircraft is not to be missed!
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The exhibition includes a scale model of the aircraft dating back to 1968, and a 13-minute documentary featuring interviews with pilots and crew, and a yachtie rescued by the aircraft back in 1994.
P-3 Orion: The story of an extraordinary aircraft is not to be missed!
A fun way to explore the Museum together
Museum Hunts
We offer a range of fun Museum Hunts suitable for 4 – 12-year-olds, with changing themes and challenges every school holiday. Each hunt also enters you in the draw for an awesome prize!
Check out our latest Morse Code Hunts today.
Learn More
Our Aircraft
Explore AircraftMore to explore
Here’s the short and long of it.
Back in 2001 young Dave Gardner was an RNZAF pilot under training, and his instructor was Brett Marshall.
Fast forward 23 years and here they are, reunited with an Airtrainer at Wigram, and still talking about the difference in seat heights they had to account for when they squeezed into an Airtrainer together.
The New Zealand Aerospace Industries CT/4B Airtrainer did not have anything as fancy as a seat adjuster – pilots simply selected the seat spacers they needed and carried them out to the aircraft before each flight. Some pilots (Brett) may have needed more spacers for boost than others (Dave)!
These days Dave is an Air New Zealand Airbus pilot, and Brett’s still keeping an eye on the Airtrainer as Director of the Air Force Museum of New Zealand - Te Whakairinga Mutu.
Our name means the final posting – and our museum belongs to everyone in Aotearoa New Zealand.
We’re here to acknowledge and remember all those who have served and are serving in the RNZAF. In other words – people like Dave Gardner. Dave served for 12 years in the RNZAF, flying Sioux and Iroquois helicopters, the C-130H Hercules and Boeing 757s. His favourite was the Boeing, which he flew all over the world.
Ka rawe Dave – nice to see you.
#rnzaf #r#rnzafpastandpresent ... See MoreSee Less
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YET ANOTHER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER: So, last week’s mystery cockpit competition was no mystery at all to a whole lot of you, it was indeed our Kaman SH-2F Seasprite NZ3442.
We put all the winners’ names into a hat and … drumroll please … the winner is Grant Bell – aircraft recognition supremo!
If you get in touch via communications@airforcemusuem.co.nz and give us your address we will fire up the Bristol Freighter and get your beautiful new and exclusive Air Force Museum of New Zealand aircraft recognition mug flown out to you Grant. Your coffee will never taste better and you can identify aircraft in between sips.
The next competition will be much more difficult. We promise.
Of course if you’d like to cut out the middleman and own your own mug, and support our museum, you can order online at airforcemuseum.co.nz/shop/afm-collection-mug/ ... See MoreSee Less
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Grant Bell
The Roll-Royce Merlins have new superchargers, the ammo has been replenished, we’ve got a new projector, revamped cockpit and new improved graphics.
Yes game fans, our Mosquito Mission is back and it is better than ever!
You can choose from flying a mission in the Norwegian fjords or attempting to free POWs from Amiens Prison, skimming in fast and low at the controls in your real De Havilland DH98 Mosquito cockpit.
You can also choose either arcade or accurate (hard!) skill levels.
Wheels up on the first mission each day at 0930, back on the runway by 1630.
#christchurchnz #dehavillandmosquito #wigramskies #rnzafpastandpresent ... See MoreSee Less
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Mosquito Mission is not an online offering, it is a game based at our museum.
That is just a teaser text, is this something you offer online?
MARCH ON IN to our place this morning for a guided walk to discover historic Wigram as part of Heritage Week. Our guides will talk you on a 90-minute walk taking in the highlights of our historic air base, which was once home to thousands of RNZAF personnel. It is family friendly, pram friendly, accessible and a must do if you want to learn more about our proud aviation history.
Tour starts at 10am - just $5.
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Recommend this walk, excellent people taking it. 13yr old and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
And a few soldiers - Army Pilots' Course 673. 😃
Absolute disgrace what wigram has become.(Not the museum)