The case for $5m to bolster the home of the Air Force

Friday, 28 February 2025

The much anticipated C-130H Hercules arrived to loud cheers in Wigram, where it will retire to the Air Force Museum of Christchurch.

Brett Marshall is the director of the Air Force Museum of New Zealand.

OPINION: Auckland has the Navy Museum, Waiouru looks after the Army’s heritage and we in Ōtautahi Christchurch are lucky enough to be the home of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF).

Wigram is the birthplace of the RNZAF, and we are its national museum and memorial.

We have more than 100 years of military aviation heritage at our historic base, and our Roll of Honour includes the names of more than 4600 people who have given their lives in service, with an average age of 24.

Each year more than 150,000 people – including 5000 school students - visit us to learn the stories of sacrifice and view our world-class collection of aircraft, which has had its most significant boost in years with the arrival of two national heroes – an Orion and a Hercules.

Three of the RNZAF’s Hercules C-130H planes do a low fly-past over Wellington City as a final flight before the planes are retired from duty.

While we are delighted to get these aircraft, they present us with a dilemma – with tails soaring more than 10 metres high and wings stretching over 40m, they are far too large for our current exhibition spaces.

Which means we have a space issue – but it is a wonderful problem to have. We have a $16 million extension to our current site planned to give them the space they deserve.

Last year we approached the Christchurch City Council for help, and we were delighted when the council saw merit in what we were doing and agreed to support us.

The Air Force Museum’s new Hercules arrives at its final destination in Wigram.

The council earmarked $5m to help us in its long term plan process, and this proposal is now out for public consultation.

It has a very minor impact on rates – 0.01% in 2027/28 and 0.03% in 2028/29. It is the equivalent of a 10-cent increase on every $1000 in rates you pay in the first period, increasing to 30 cents.

While it is minor, we also appreciate that it is everyone’s money, so I wanted to explain a little more about why these aircraft are out of the ordinary.

Back in the 1960s, when the Cold War was at its height, the RNZAF was at a turning point with outdated and increasingly unreliable aircraft.

A file photo of an Iroquois helicopter being prepared for public display at the Air Force Museum in Wigram. The museum says it has become a well-used institution in Christchurch and is hoping for a $5m city council grant to help fund an extension.

The world was looking like a dangerous place, and New Zealand had an enormous area to look after. Sound familiar?

The Government took a bold decision and bought two new aircraft types – the Orion to patrol the seas and shores looking for danger, and the Hercules to airlift anything and everything anywhere in the world.

They were meant to last about 15 years. Thanks to the efforts of thousands of committed RNZAF personnel they saw us through for six decades.

The Orion flew thousands of lonely hours across our seas, protecting our economic zone. When bad weather or disaster struck, Orion crews flew towards danger to be the first at the scene to save lives.

The Hercules was the ute of the skies. This chunky, versatile and extremely capable heavyweight aircraft airlifted people and essential supplies wherever and whenever they were needed all over the world.

To the people of the Pacific – to lost yachties or fishing crews – there was no better sound in the world than an Orion’s four engines.

The museum’s P-3K2 Orion was unveiled for public display in 2024. With the arrival of another Air Force workhorse, the Hercules, the museum is planning an extension to give it the extra space it now needs.

After a cyclone in the Pacific, there was no better sight than a chunky Hercules landing on rough coral runways to deliver much-needed help.

They are just as important at home. When an Air New Zealand DC-10 went missing on a scenic flight to Antarctica in 1979 an Orion was the first out to scour the Southern Ocean for it, and it was a Hercules that had the sad work of recovering the bodies of those lost in the crash.

After the Canterbury earthquakes in 2011, the Hercules delivered the first search and rescue crews and essential aid. When a quake struck Kaikoura in 2016, an Orion’s cameras provided the first aerial survey pictures of the damage for emergency crews.

The emergencies are just part of the work. For 60 years the Hercules provided an essential lifeline to Scott Base in Antarctica, flying the perilous route across the Southern Ocean to land on the ice with supplies.

The Hercules has also transported the Army all over the world, including on dozens of peacekeeping missions from Somalia and Rwanda to the Solomons.

Our museum has also been a big part of the Christchurch community since we opened in 1987. As well as all the museum visits and events, we were in the fortunate position of being able to offer a safe haven for all our fellow museums and galleries after the Canterbury earthquakes. We have supported and continue to support dozens of community group events.

We are a busy Christchurch venue as well – hundreds of school formals have been held at our place, which means we have provided a venue for a lot of youthful romance over the years.

Christchurch City Council has heard this message and agreed to help.

The proposal to support us with a $5m grant is one of the submissions in the latest council planning round now open for consultation.

We hope you can find time let the council know your thoughts on this support.