A fi breglass Hawker Hurricane replica serves as MOTAT’s gate guard. The model is painted to
represent P3854/OK-1, one of two examples fl own by New Zealand fi ghter ace Air Vice-Marshal
Keith Park, to whom the Memorial Aviation Collection hangar is dedicated.MUSEUMS MOTAT NEW ZEALAND
S
et in the lush, landscaped
surrounds of Auckland’s
Western Springs Lakeside
Park, The Museum of Transport
and Technology (MOTAT) is the
largest of its kind in New Zealand.
Opened in 1964, it’s spread
across 40 acres (16.2 hectares)
and two sites, and contains more
than 300,000 objects of national
significance, ranging from stamps
to steam trains.
Of most interest to FlyPast
readers is the museum’s
remarkable aircraft collection,
housed in a dedicated multi-
award-winning display hall off
Meola Road, a short tram ride
away from the main Great North
Road site to the south.
Describing its aeronautical
offering, the museum says “our
one-of-a-kind aviation collection
is MOTAT’s jewel in the crown and
for the first time in 50 years we
now have all our planes under
cover. This enables us to complete
critical restoration work... as well
as ensuring that our aviation
collection receives the very
best protection.”On display
visitors arriving at MOTAT via
the Meola Road entrance are
greeted by a Hawker Hurricane
gate guard, now the only aviation
exhibit housed outside. Alas,though realistic, it is in fact
a fibreglass replica painted
as P3854 ‘OK-1’, one of two
Hurricanes flown by New Zealand
fighter ace Air Vice-Marshal Keith
Park in 1940 during his time as Air
Officer Commanding the RAF’s
No.1 Group.
Inside the stylish Memorial
Aviation Collection hangar, a
small reception area and gift
shop (including a large memorial
to Park, to whom the facility
is dedicated) give way to the
cavernous display hall where the
majority of MOTAT’s aircraft are
on show.
A walkway through the centre
of the hall is flanked by a wide
array of commercial, military
and recreational aircraft which,
the museum notes, “celebrates
the evolution of New Zealand
aviation since February 1911 when
Vivian Walsh achieved sustained
and controlled flight in a British
Howard Wright biplane”.
Front and centre of the hangar
is the imposing Avro Lancaster
NX665, resplendent in standard
late-war era Bomber Command
colours. Built as a B.VII, it rolled
off the production line in 1945 but,
too late to see active service with
the RAF, subsequently served with
the French Navy as a maritime
patrol aircraft in east Africa and
the South Pacific.The Lancaster, which has been
part of the museum’s collection
since the outset, was converted
to B.III configuration at MOTAT
by members of the New Zealand
Bomber Command Association
and now wears the colours of
75(NZ) Squadron’s NE181/JN-M
The Captain’s Fancy, which was the
first Royal New Zealand Air Force
(RNZAF) Lancaster to complete
more than 100 combat missions.
Across the aisle is McDonnell
Douglas A-4K Skyhawk NZ6206
which, delivered new in 1970,
served until the type’s retirement
(and disbandment of the RNZAF’s
Air Combat Force) in 2002.
It is joined by Aermacchi MB-339
NZ6466, one of 18 acquired by
the air force in the early 1990s to
replace its BAC Strikemasters in
the advanced training and light
attack role.
Moving back through the hall,
you’re next presented with an
impressive display dedicated to de
Havilland and its various aircraft
types. Exhibited outside the
pavilion, which contains related
memorabilia, is Vampire FB Mk 9
WR202, while the immaculately
restored Mosquito T.43 NZ2305
sits across the walkway.
This ‘Wooden Wonder’, which
wears a period-standard silver
livery, was originally taken on
charge by the Royal Australian AirForce in mid-1946 before crossing
the Tasman Sea to join the RNZAF
the same year. It was later placed
in storage and then sold to a farm
where it remained derelict until
1967, when it was acquired by
MOTAT and painstakingly rebuilt
to display condition.
The Mosquito provides a neat
segue from de Havilland to the
next themed section of the hangar,
which focuses on the Pacific
theatre. It is joined by Curtiss
P-40E-1 Kittyhawk, a composite
airframe rebuilt using components
from several other examples,
and Lockheed Hudson GR Mk.III
NZ2031, which flew many combat
missions from bases in New
Caledonia and the Solomon Islands.
Beyond these lie a sizeable
collection of civilian aircraft,
featuring some real rarities and
lesser seen types. They include a
variety of top-dressing and crop-
spraying aircraft – unsurprising
given New Zealand’s huge and
long-running aerial agriculture
sector. Among the highlights
is the Commonwealth Aircraft
Corporation CA-28 Ceres,
an adaptation of the military
Wirraway powered by a 600hp
Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp
engine, and designed to deliver
loads of phosphate or fertiliser
from a hopper placed in what was
originally the forward cockpit.Magnificent MOTAT
Craig West travelled to Auckland to visit to one of New Zealand’s
premier aircraft collections