What's on at Air Force Museum of New Zealand
Latest from the museum
Support
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.
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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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Update
Overseas visitor charge
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.
The charge is required to cover rising costs and to contribute to our new $20 million extension to house the newest members of our collection – our historic Hercules and Orion aircraft.
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Our Aircraft
Explore AircraftMore to explore
⚽GO THE ALL WHITES VOLUME II! As the All Whites stare down the challenge of taking on Egypt in the World Cup today, we wanted to inspire the boys with some archive shots of the hardest looking teams in the equally famous RNZAF Conquest Cup competition at RNZAF Base Wigram in 1981.
The beautiful game has never looker tougher. For the record, RNZAF Base Auckland won that year.
If you want to have a look at our extensive catalogue of football greatness, go to: airforcemuseum.co.nz/photographs/
and put in football as a key word.
#WorldCup2026 #football #AllWhites ... See MoreSee Less
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❓MYSTERY OBJECT COMPETITION❓: Drum roll please - it is time for this week's mystery object competition!!
This one's a gamble on our part. While many of you may know what the object is, we also want to know which aircraft in our collection it belongs to.
To recap, it is a classic two parter, in a what/which format.
Part 1: What is it?
Part 2: Which aircraft in the Air Force Museum of New Zealand collection does it belong to?
Answer correctly in the comments below and you'll go in the draw to win an Air Force Museum of New Zealand roundel mug.
Our roundel mugs are round with roundels and are perfect for dipping Krispie biscuits in.
Best of luck, you are going to need so much of it to #MysteryObject
##wedonthaveacluew#impossiblepuzzlempossiblepuzzle ... See MoreSee Less
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The flight officers missus hairdryer
It's a turbo on a BSA Bantam to enable it to catch a Buccaneer and pass over sarnies during a normal operating height pass.
A turbo to make the run in under 12 parsecs
It's a turbo charger on a Bell Sioux helicopter.
Air starter
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🚨📢GET THE KETTLE ON - WE HAVE A WINNER 🚨📢: Take a victory lap to the sound of thunderous applause from your adoring public please Graeme Munro - you've won this week's Mystery Object competition!
Graeme wins an exclusive Air Force Museum of New Zealand roundel mug - the round mug with roundels - for correctly identifying the object as the 'Rebecca' antennae off the mighty Bristol Freighter.
A Rebecca aerial is one half of the Rebecca/Eureka short-range radio navigation system used for the dropping airborne supplies and or people attached to parachutes.
Rebecca was the airborne transceiver and antenna system, and Eureka was the ground-based transponder. In basic terms, it helped the Freighter find the right spot on the ground.
Honourable mentions go to Holleigh Elizabeth (forbidden candy cane), Brett Adams (drinking straws from a Catalina) and Graeme Munro (it shows where the pilots can get their hair trimmed and their dashing moustaches waxed).
We may be mugs for thinking these are funny, but we are not made of mugs. So no mugs for you three, but you did make us laugh!
Graeme Munro must not hesitate and email communications@airforcemuseum.co.nz to let us know his postal address so we can get busy. We will fill the Freighter's mighty Hercules engines up with oil and top up its fuel and fly the mug out to you.
Thank you to every one for participating. Next week's com#MysteryObjectbe#wedonthaveacluey#impossiblepuzzleonthaveaclue #impossiblepuzzle ... See MoreSee Less
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