Air Force Museum of New Zealand

Air Force Museum of New Zealand Our mission is to preserve and present the history of New Zealand military aviation We want to ensure that this remains a respectful and safe online space.
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Thank you for visiting and participating in conversations on the Air Force Museum of New Zealand’s page. We are proud to have been given the label TripAdvisor Travelers Choice – Top 10%

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This is a forum for sharing New Zealand’s military aviation stories and reflecting on the thousands of Kiwis who have served, and continue to serve, with the Royal New Zealand Air Force. We will remove any comments, posts or photos that do not comply with our code of conduct. Code of conduct:

- We encourage you to engage in respectful, thoughtful and constructive dialogue and stay on topic when leaving comments.

- Respect others and their opinions when engaging online. Personal attacks and abuse towards other commentators will not be tolerated.

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- Attempts to defame or defraud any financial, commercial or non-governmental agency are also not allowed.

- Please be advised that if you breach this code of conduct in any way, your comment or post will be removed. Repeated violations of this code of conduct will result in you being blocked from the Air Force Museum of New Zealand's page.

- Comments are also subject to Facebook’s Community Standards, as outlined in Facebook’s Terms of Service. We reserve the right to update our Code of Conduct at any time. We look forward to sharing our collection, exhibitions, events and public programmes with you and engaging with you on our page!

FIRST AUSSIE VISITOR! Sadly we could not convince the Royal Australian Air Force to land a F35 Lightning II at Wigram du...
10/09/2026

FIRST AUSSIE VISITOR! Sadly we could not convince the Royal Australian Air Force to land a F35 Lightning II at Wigram during their visit this week, although it might have made a nice commemoration!

On this day, back in 1928, Charles Kingsford-Smith, Charles Ulm, Harold Litchfield and Thomas H. McWilliams arrived in the Southern Cross at the end of the first flight from Australia to New Zealand.

The three-engine Fokker took 14 hours and 25 minutes to fly from Richmond in New South Wales to Christchurch.

By comparison the two RAAF Lightnings took a little over three hours to fly from New South Wales to Ohakea, and they were taking it easy!

In 1928 the crowd was estimated at between 30,000 and 40,000 – almost everyone was there.

Read all the details about this historic arrival here:

https://airforcemuseum.co.nz/blog/the-arrival-of-the-southern-cross-at-wigram/

10/09/2026

While there was no Royal Australian Air Force Lightning II flyover today because of the weather, our BB1545 Air Buzzy Bee service from RNZAF Base Woodbourne arrived on schedule.

🚨📢Our Pacific Room is back! 🚨📢If you’re a group planning a visit to the museum, and you’d like a fully immersive battle ...
09/09/2026

🚨📢Our Pacific Room is back! 🚨📢

If you’re a group planning a visit to the museum, and you’d like a fully immersive battle simulation, enlist now for our Pacific Room experience.

The Pacific Room simulates what life was like during an air raid in the islands, with smoke, explosions and plenty of scares thrown in.

The room has just been refurbished and updated and is open for gritty and realistic experiences now!

Are you brave enough?

Contact [email protected] for a booking.

SALUTE THE VAUXHALL! On 13 May 1952, RNZAF Chief of Air Staff Air Vice-Marshal David Carnegie had cause to issue a minut...
08/09/2026

SALUTE THE VAUXHALL! On 13 May 1952, RNZAF Chief of Air Staff Air Vice-Marshal David Carnegie had cause to issue a minute following a visit to Wigram, where he found that the ‘standard of saluting by airmen was considerably lower than any other station’.

“As Wigram is entirely concerned with training it should reflect a higher standard. I look forward to considerable improvement in this respect.’’

But wait, it gets worse. One particularly bad aspect he found was the complete disregard of the Station Officer’s car.

“Both the Vauxhalls are nearly always used buy one of the senior officers on the station, and almost invariably one of them is driven by the Commanding Officer himself. Please instruct your airmen to pay particular attention to this as well.’’

Curiously, we could not find any photos of top level respect, saluting and care of Vauxhalls in our archive from Wigram. The examples you see are from Woodbourne, Ohakea, and Whenuapai.

However, if you visit the Air Force Museum of New Zealand at Wigram today, we can guarantee a salute.

And the Vauxhall’s still here!

Huge congratulations to our Defence Force Photographers - Corporal Jalesi Nomani, Corporal Naomi James and Leading Aviat...
08/09/2026

Huge congratulations to our Defence Force Photographers - Corporal Jalesi Nomani, Corporal Naomi James and Leading Aviator Classification Connor Williams - who are finalists in the New Zealand Geographic Photographer of the Year competition.

The work of these three photographers features in our Defence Force Photographers exhibition currently running in our upstairs atrium.

They’re part of a team of eight NZDF photographers around the country and a trade that was first established way back in 1929.

They’re called on to photograph everything from technical photos of accidents and incidents through to course graduations and NZDF deployments.

You can see their entries in the New Zealand Geographic competition, along with all the other finalists, here: https://www.nzgeo.com/photography/photographer-of-the-year-2026-finalists/

BUSINESS AS USUAL: Don't be deterred by a small diversion on Harvard Avenue outside the museum - the car park can be acc...
08/09/2026

BUSINESS AS USUAL: Don't be deterred by a small diversion on Harvard Avenue outside the museum - the car park can be accessed and we are open as usual.

Contractors are repairing a sewer pipe (for the record a plastic pipe post-dating the closure of RNZAF Base Wigram - so not an RNZAF-issue pipe from stores) and expect to be finished either at end of day tomorrow (Wednesday 9 September) or first thing Thursday (10 September).

Our museum and all its plumbing are operating as usual, and we're open from 9.30am until 4.30pm for museuming*.

For your plumbing-related edification the photo is of a Hawker Siddeley Andover delivering emergency pipes to Wairoa during Cyclone Bola in March 1988.

*A made up word for enjoying incredible Kiwi stories with us. Not to mention seeing a world-class historic military aircraft collection.

07/09/2026

F-35A flight schedule 🇳🇿🇦🇺 For the first time, two Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) F-35A Lightning II stealth fighter jets are heading to New Zealand for an exercise with our Air Force and the New Zealand Army.

View the flying schedule ➡️ nzdf.mil.nz/RAAF-Visit

📸 ADF

07/09/2026

APPOINTMENT WITH THE QUEEN: We checked in with Sergeant Raz Malkin on progress with the Queen Mary trailer restoration.

We're getting close, as you can see!

BATTLE OF BRITAIN REMEMBERED: Today we remember Pilot Officer Kenneth Victor Wendel. On 5 September 1940, Kenneth and th...
07/09/2026

BATTLE OF BRITAIN REMEMBERED: Today we remember Pilot Officer Kenneth Victor Wendel.

On 5 September 1940, Kenneth and the rest of No. 504 Squadron had relocated to RAF Hendon from a quiet posting at Scapa Flow.

This put the Hurricane squadron on the frontline of defence for London during the Battle of Britain.

Two days later, on 7 September 1940, Kenneth was leading the rear section of a patrol at 20,000 feet over the Thames Estuary. His section was attacked by five or six Luftwaffe fighters, and two were seen to fire at Kenneth.

Witnesses on the ground saw his Hurricane plummet out of control and crash at Sandbanks Farm, Graveney, Kent. He was badly burned and died of his injuries.

Kenneth was from Takapuna and joined the RNZAF in 1934 as a stores clerk. In his spare time, he learned to fly at the Auckland Aero Club and qualified as a pilot.

He joined the RAF in 1937 and was posted to France in the early days of the war with No. 504 Squadron, before being evacuated back to Britain.

Kenneth was only 24 years old when he died. He was one of 20 Kiwi aircrew killed during the Battle of Britain.

We will remember Kenneth’s sacrifice on Sunday, 20 September, at our annual Battle of Britain Commemoration Service at 10.30am in our atrium.

The service is being held in conjunction with the Brevet Club.


Pictures courtesy of the Battle of Britain Monument, Colin Relf.

Address

45 Harvard Avenue, Wigram
Christchurch
8042

Opening Hours

Monday 9:30am - 4:30pm
Tuesday 9:30am - 4:30pm
Wednesday 9:30am - 4:30pm
Thursday 9:30am - 4:30pm
Friday 9:30am - 4:30pm
Saturday 9:30am - 4:30pm
Sunday 9:30am - 4:30pm

Telephone

+6433719600

Website

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