Air Force Museum of New Zealand

Air Force Museum of New Zealand

6 hours ago

ICE RESCUE: Sixty-five years ago, an urgent rescue mission was under way in Antarctica after an RNZAF aircraft crashed on an unknown glacier about 640km from Scott Base.
On 15 January 1960 de Havilland Beaver NZ6010 crashed in whiteout conditions during a resupply mission.
The pilots, Squadron Leader Les Jeffs and Flight Lieutenant Peter Rule, were unhurt and managed to get emergency messages out, but difficult weather conditions meant they had to stay put for the moment.
RNZAF Auster NZ1707, piloted by Bill Cranfield, flew to the rescue but the weather closed in again. Five days after the crash landing, on 20 January, they managed to fly the Auster out to Beardmore Glacier.
The Beaver could not be salvaged and remains there today.
You can see the plucky rescue Auster, NZ1707, on display in our collection.
Peter Rule went on to become a Squadron Leader and is a significant figure in the history of the RNZAF.
His distinguished 20-year career ended in 1975 because homosexual men were banned from serving. He committed suicide in 1987, well before the reforms which meant LGBT+ men and women were welcome to serve openly in the RNZAF.
His contribution to the RNZAF is commemorated today by the Squadron Leader Peter Rule Memorial Award for inclusiveness.
His life is also honoured by the Rule Foundation which provides grants for activities that seek to advance the health, wellbeing and visibility of rainbow, takatāpui & MVPFAFF+ communities.
You can read more about Peter’s life here: www.rulefoundation.nz/peters-story

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Air Force Museum of New Zealand

1 day ago

URGENT CLARIFICATION: It has been brought to our attention that there may be some ongoing confusion between the Miles Aerovan and the Nissan Urvan.
Both served in the RNZAF and both were versatile – if a little underrated – machines. With names so similar, a little confusion is not surprising.
So, we’ve put together a quick and handy guide so you can tell them apart at a glance and put a stop to this unnecessary bewilderment.
Obviously the first, and probably easiest way to your Miles Aerovan apart from your Nissan Urvan, is from their engine notes.
The Miles Aerovan was a twin, powered by a pair of mighty 155-horsepower Blackburn Cirrus Major III engines. The Nissan Urvan was powered by a normally aspirated 99-horsepower in-line four petrol engine known as an NA20s.
With a twin you’d expect to hear more of a drone, while the Urvan emanated a distinctive Nissan four-cylinder burble.
The second giveaway is the wheel arrangement. The Miles Aerovan had a fixed tricycle undercarriage while the Nissan Urvan sported four non-retractable wheels in a conventional arrangement. Plus a spare.
Finally, the easiest way to tell them apart in the hangar was by their rear cargo door arrangement. The Miles Aerovan’s door swung sideways and formed part of the aircraft’s aerodynamic empennage when closed for flight, while the Nissan Urvan’s rear cargo door was hinged from the top. The Nissan’s cargo door could be opened for awkward long loads such as ladders or especially tall Air Cadets without affecting its aerodynamic efficiency, but this would have been much more difficult in the Aerovan.
The RNZAF operated two Miles Aerovan 4s from 1949 until 1950, and no examples survive. The RNZAF operated the Nissan Urvan during the 1990s and they may well have found a second life as backpacker transport.
We hope this clears up any confusion.
You’re welcome.
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Air Force Museum of New Zealand

2 days ago

Today we remember those who lost their lives on Black Monday, the darkest day in the RNZAF’s campaign in thePacific.
Eighty years ago, on Monday 15 January 1945, a strike by No. 14 and 16 Squadrons’ Corsairs on Simpson Harbour at Rabaul, Papua New Guinea ended in tragedy. One of the pilots, Flight Lieutenant Francis Keefe was hit by flak and wounded in the arm but managed to parachute into Simpson Harbour.
His comrades attempted to protect him so that a Catalina flying boat could rescue him, and later, as dusk fell a Ventura tried to drop bamboo rafts to Keefe. The fire in both cases was too great from the Japanese defenders. The Corsairs were forced to leave Keefe and head home.
The RNZAF pilot was picked up by the Japanese and taken prisoner, he died of blood poisoning two weeks later.
The surviving Corsairs ran into a tropical storm on their flight to Green Island. Three aircraft crashed into the sea enroute, two collided and one more crashed trying to land at Green Island; the one other disappeared without trace.
Francis Keefe died in captivity on 30 January. The loss of eight pilots and aircraft in a single mission was the worst day in the Pacific and is regarded as the worst in the history of the RNZAF. It became known as Black Monday and you can read Simon Moody's blog about it here: airforcemuseum.co.nz/blog/black-monday-kiyoshi-suzukis-depiction-of-a-pacific-tragedy/

Those lost were: Flying Officer Greville Randell, aged 24, Tauranga; Flight Lieutenant Thomas Randall French Johnson, 30, Gisborne; Flight Sergeant Ronald Wilfred Albrecht, 20, Palmerston North; Flight Lieutenant Bruce Stafford Hay, 23, Taihape; Flight Sergeant John Seddon McArthur, 24, Christchurch; Flying Officer Albert Norman Saward, 22, Hamilton; Flight Sergeant Ian James Munro, 20, Kaitaia; and Flight Lieutenant Francis Keefe, 28, Auckland (died 30 January).
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.

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