The Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre is an aviation museum located at the Omaka Air Field, from the centre of Blenheim, New Zealand.

History

A resurgence of heritage aviation interest began in the Marlborough area in the late 1990s when a group of enthusiasts imported two Chinese

Nanchang CJ-6 The Nanchang CJ-6 () is a Chinese basic trainer aircraft designed and built by the Nanchang Aircraft Factory (now Hongdu Aviation) for use by the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). Development The CJ-6 (Chu Jiao 初教 = Chuji Jiaoli ...

trainers and established the Marlborough Warbirds Association as a way to foster interest and provide a social network of support. As increasing numbers of aircraft were based at Omaka, word of their existence led to increasing numbers of tourists visiting the facilities. In 1997, a small group of aircraft owners and enthusiasts established the New Zealand Aviation Museum Trust to provide a means of making the aircraft accessible to the public on a more practical and sustainable basis while acting as catalyst to attract aviation business and investment to the

Marlborough region Marlborough District or the Marlborough Region (, or ''Tauihu''), commonly known simply as Marlborough, is one of the 16 regions of New Zealand, located on the northeast of the South Island. Marlborough is a unitary authority, both a distric ...

and at the same time grow the public understanding and appreciation of aviation. A decade of collaborative activity lead to the establishment of the Marlborough Aviation Cluster, incorporating an aviation business park and the heritage centre. The initiative received support from the Marlborough District Council and Marlborough Regional Development Trust. In addition

NZ Trade and Enterprise New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) is New Zealand's economic development and trade promotion agency. It offers strategic advice, access to networks and influencers, research and market intelligence, and targeted financial support to help bus ...

in 2004 contributed NZ$2 million in funding as part of a Major Regional Initiative grant towards stage 1 of the heritage centre. Stage One of the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre, featuring the WW1 exhibition 'Knights of the Sky' occupies some 3,000 sqm of purpose-built display area and was officially opened on 9th Dec 2006. Stage Two opened in November 2016.

Knights of the Sky Exhibition

Omaka's first exhibition, 'Knights of the Sky', presents one of the world's largest collections of World War I aircraft and rare memorabilia, including a mix of static displays along with flyable planes. The collection (which is on long term loan to the museum) is managed by the 14-18 Aviation Heritage Trust, which is chaired by film director Sir Peter Jackson. As a result of Jackson’s interest the exhibition which was designed by Joe Bleakley was able to employ the talents of Wellington's finest set builders, painters and props specialists, in particular those of

Wingnut Films WingNut Films, Inc. is a New Zealand production company based in Wellington, with other offices in Hollywood, United States, London, United Kingdom, and Melbourne, Australia. It is notable for producing and collaborates predominantly with filmma ...

and enhanced with lifelike mannequins by Weta Workshop. Despite its complexity the exhibition took less than 10 weeks to complete from design to opening.

Dangerous Skies Exhibition

'Dangerous Skies' broadens the Omaka experience into the Second World War. As well as the Battle of Britain, visitors are taken on a journey through the lesser-known stories of the war on the Eastern Front. Like the WW1 'Knights of the Sky', this exhibition features mannequins made by Weta Workshop, and original, static and flyable aircraft in larger than life dioramas.

Airshow

At Easter on alternate (odd) years to the

Warbirds over Wanaka Warbirds over Wanaka is a biennial air show in Wānaka, held on the Easter weekend of even-numbered years since 1988. It is held at Wānaka Airport, 10 km south-east of Wānaka, in the southern South Island of New Zealand. Initially conceive ...

air show, the Omaka airfield plays host to an air show called Classic Fighters.

Collection

The museum's collection contains a wide variety of military aircraft from the First and Second World Wars as well as artefacts and personal items belonging to some of the most famous aviators of World War I including some items of Baron

Manfred von Richthofen Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (; 2 May 1892 – 21 April 1918), known in English as Baron von Richthofen or the Red Baron, was a fighter pilot with the German Air Force during World War I. He is considered the ace-of-aces of ...

memorabilia.

Aircraft on display

Curtiss MF NC903 Omaka 20170414 Zac Yates

The Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre contains the following: * Airco DH.2 replica *

Breguet 14 Breguet or Bréguet may refer to: * Breguet (watch), watch manufacturer **Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747–1823), Swiss watchmaker **Louis-François-Clement Breguet (1804–1883), French physicist, watchmaker, electrical and telegraph work * Bréguet ...

replica *

Caproni Ca.22 The Caproni Ca.22 was a single-engine monoplane made by the Italian company Aeronautica Caproni in 1913. Design Developed on the initiative of Giovanni Battista "Gianni" Caproni was made in a single sample for research purposes to study the cha ...

Original * Curtiss MF Flying Boat. Original *

Airco DH.4 The Aircraft Manufacturing Company Limited (Airco) was an early British aircraft manufacturer. Established during 1912, it grew rapidly during the First World War, referring to itself as the largest aircraft company in the world by 1918. Ai ...

Original, built under license in the United States and one of two original examples known to survive. * De Havilland Mosquito *

Etrich Taube The Etrich ''Taube'', also known by the names of the various later manufacturers who built versions of the type, such as the Rumpler ''Taube'', was a pre-World War I monoplane aircraft. It was the first military aeroplane to be mass-produced in ...

replica * Focke-Wulf Fw 190A * Fokker D.VIII * Fokker Dr.I triplane. Four flyable replicas are maintained. *

Fokker E.III The Fokker E.III was the main variant of the ''Eindecker'' (literally meaning "one deck") fighter aircraft of World War I. It entered service on the Western Front in December 1915 and was also supplied to Austria-Hungary and Turkey. Design and ...

Eindecker replica * Halberstadt D.IV replica *

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness b ...

. One of several taxiable replicas built for the 1969 film

Battle of Britain (film) ''Battle of Britain'' is a 1969 British war film directed by Guy Hamilton, and produced by Harry Saltzman and S. Benjamin Fisz. The film documents the events of the Battle of Britain. The film drew many respected British actors to accept roles ...

* Junkers Ju 87 Stuka replica *

Lockheed Hudson The Lockheed Hudson is a light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built by the American Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. It was initially put into service by the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and p ...

NZ2049 *

Messerschmitt Bf 108 The Messerschmitt Bf 108 ''Taifun'' (English: "Typhoon") was a German single-engine sport and touring aircraft, developed by Bayerische Flugzeugwerke in the 1930s. The Bf 108 was of all-metal construction. Design and development Originally desi ...

Morane-Saulnier BB The Morane-Saulnier BB was a military observation aircraft produced in France during World War I for use by Britain's Royal Flying Corps.Taylor 1989, 684"The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft", 2538 It was a conventional single-bay biplane ...

Nieuport 24 The Nieuport 24 (or Nieuport XXIV C.1 in contemporary sources) was a World War I French sesquiplane fighter aircraft designed by Gustave Delage as a development of the successful Nieuport 17. The Nieuport 24 had the misfortune to be the penult ...

replica * Nieuport 27 replica * Pfalz D.III, one of two flying replicas built for use in the movie

The Blue Max ''The Blue Max'' is a 1966 British war film directed by John Guillermin and starring George Peppard, James Mason, Ursula Andress, Karl Michael Vogler, and Jeremy Kemp. The film was made in DeLuxe Color and filmed in CinemaScope. The plot i ...

. * Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a replica built by the Vintage Aviator Ltd. * Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8 replica built by the Vintage Aviator Ltd. * Siemens-Schuckert D.IV replica * Supermarine Spitfire Mk 14 * Thomas-Morse S-4 Scout original *

Yakovlev Yak-3 The Yakovlev Yak-3 (Russian: Яковлев Як-3) was a single-engine, single-seat World War II Soviet fighter. Robust and easy to maintain, it was much liked by both pilots and ground crew.Glancey 2006, p. 180. One of the smallest and lighte ...

Soon to join the collection from the deceased John Smith collection from

Māpua, New Zealand Māpua is a small town in the South Island of New Zealand. It is to the west of Nelson on State Highway 60 and on the coastline of Tasman Bay. With a thriving wharf and commercial area, Māpua has grown in popularity for visitors, with numbers ...

: * de Havilland Tiger Moth NZ1467/ZK-BQB * Curtiss P-40N Kittyhawk Mk.IV 43-22962/NZ3220 "Gloria Lyons" * De Havilland Mosquito DH.98 Mosquito FB.VI TE910/NZ2336

References

External links

* * {{authority control Aerospace museums in New Zealand Buildings and structures in Blenheim, New Zealand Military and war museums in New Zealand Museums in the Marlborough Region 2010s architecture in New Zealand