What's on at Air Force Museum of New Zealand
Latest from the museum
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.
Book a birthday party
Latest Exhibition
Victory!
It is 80 years since the end of the Second World War.
Our Victory exhibition, upstairs in the atrium, 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.
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.
Learn More
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.
Learn More
Our Aircraft
Explore AircraftMore to explore
MOTHER'S DAY SPECIAL TODAY - SLICE AND A SPITFIRE!
Bring mum to our museum today and she’ll get a FREE SLICE with her hot drink at our Contact Café.
So that’s FREE ENTRY, and a FREE SLICE, and then time to admire a Spitfire!
What better way to spend Mother’s Day than with us?
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Delicious food, slice and service!! Thank you team
HISTORY HIT: If you’ve got a group of curious history students who want to see some primary sources, look no further than us!
When Burnside High School's history department wanted to give their year 12 students a something diffferent for their Vietnam War studies, we rolled out our best.
These included Vietnam veterans Gerry Steele and Tom Turnbull, who gave the students a first-hand view into what it was like to be young Kiwi soldiers sent to the conflict.
Their feelings about going to war - and their treatment after returning home - made compelling listening. We can't thank Gerry and Tom enough for giving their time to share some difficult memories.
And then students were off to see our Vietnam-era aircraft, including the last Bristol Freighter to fly out of Saigon before the war ended in 1975, before a session in the archives with research Curator Simon Moody who had specially prepared some highlights from our collection.
These included the helmet worn by RNZAF pilot Graeme ‘Goldie’ Goldsmith on his missions in the skies over Vietnam, logbooks, maps, propaganda sheets and best of all, the New Zealand flag taken from the Kiwi ambassador’s car in Saigon.
Best of all is the coded letter, addressed to the High Commission in Singapore, to let them know the embassy evacuation was happening.
If you’d like to get in touch about one of our tailored history sessions for your school, get in touch with our Education Officer Chris Davey by emailing education@airforcemuseum.co.nz.
This is a FREE resource - just let us know what we can do.
#burnsidehighschool #vietnamwar #nzdf #rnzaf ... See MoreSee Less
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Good to see Burnsides history department Is proactive, as it was when I was a student there - late 60’s early 70’s. I first heard the logic of - ‘How do you know where you are going if you don’t know where you have come from’. This has stayed with me for life. It’s a pity some current world leaders did not study history.
REUNITED: Flight Lieutenant Ben Pickering dropped by the other day to be reunited with his old favourite - RNZAF C-130H 7001 - also known as Charles.
Ben is now an RNZAF C-130J pilot, but has great memories of his time flying the RNZAF's H fleet, which finally retired last year after 60 years of service.
"01 was my favoutite because it didn't break. The H models had a lot of character, but the J is a much better aircraft in a lot of ways - newer, more capable, more powerful and with a UD (heads-up display).''
Where the J model loses ground is in the catering department, he says.
"The microwave overns are not as good though, we could make scones and roast lamb in the H, which you can't do in a J.''
Nice to see you Ben - thank you for your service. ... See MoreSee Less
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Great aircraft, the H served the RNZAF (& all NZ) for many, many years. Did many hours of maintenance on these, good to work on .
Good on you Ben keep up the Great work on the C-130j's :) (Y)
Similar to the issues on transition from P-3 to P-8, a significant drop in the standard of the galley!
A chip off the old block!
Does that mean Better Meals for those longer flights than then cut sandwiches.
Trademark pilot mustache
Very handsome.
Why not retrofit the microwave so as to make your favourite scones.?
That’s sad about the oven 😂 Hair Force
❤️
Sorry...'break' pilots have no idea what engineering staff did to 'fix' the problems. Behind 10 hrs flying there's at least that in maintainence. Trust me I've worked on these birds for years. Pilots..glam...technicians nightmare.
Pilots, expect a 4 course meal while driving the truck of the sky..
Swap the ovens…
I had a good chat with Ben and showed him around the Museum Ben has some great stories
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