New Displays for Wigram Museum

The Royal New Zealand Air Force Museum at Wigram recently celebrated the opening of its new History Gallery: “Horizon to Horizon: the Flight Path of our Air Force.”

The new exhibition includes a full-size replica of a World War One Sopwith Pup fighter aircraft mounted in an 80 square metre aperture cut into the ceiling of the ground floor gallery, which allows visitors to view it from many angles as they walk through the gallery.

The museum says that it is appropriate to have the Sopwith Pup as the central feature of the new “Horizon to Horizon” History Gallery as this “distinctive aircraft is a tangible reminder of how far the RNZAF has come in it history, and it pays tribute to all New Zealanders who flew these and similar aircraft during World War One.”

The replica Pup (N6460) was built by Skysport Engineers in the United Kingdom in 1986, but unfortunately, it crashed on its first test flight in July 1986, despite being flown by an experienced test pilot. The Australian collector, Robert Greinert of Classic Aviation Services in Bankstown, subsequently obtained the crashed aircraft but did not repair it, although several replacement components were made, including the undercarriage and engine cowl.

In 1995, the RNZAF Museum reached an agreement to swap its P-47 Thunderbolt for the damaged Pup. The Pup was then restored by RNZAF staff and volunteers over the following years, and formed part of the Museum’s “traditional” displays.

The new gallery has been designed to replace the original History Hall, which was constructed more than twenty years ago.  The $750,000 internal makeover has seen all previous displays removed and replaced with modern exhibits. The main feature of the gallery is a central timeline, which gives a chronology of the RNZAF and early military aviation in New Zealand.

The new display cases feature personal stories of New Zealand’s airmen and airwomen, as well as showcasing the Museum’s artifacts and wartime memorabilia.  There are four audiovisual presentations within the gallery, one of which is mounted in a specially constructed three quarter scale replica RNZAF C-130 Hercules aircraft, which was built on-site by Museum staff and volunteers.