Classic_Flyers_Museum Knowpia

Classic Flyers NZ
Established	2005
Location	Tauranga Airport, Mount Maunganui, New Zealand
Type	Aviation Museum
Director	Andrew Gormlie (CEO)
Website	www.classicflyersnz.com

The Classic Flyers Museum is an aviation museum located at the Tauranga Airport, Mount Maunganui, New Zealand, owned by a registered New Zealand charitable trust, the Bay of Plenty Classic Aircraft Trust.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

The museum has a range of flying and static aircraft displays as well as a cafe.

History edit

The museum was started in 2000 when several local businessmen, who were also aviation enthusiasts, decided to see if an existing World War II-era hangar at the Tauranga Airfield could be renovated for use. The hangar proved to be unsalvageable but the group decided to build a new facility instead and formed the Bay of Plenty Classic Aircraft Trust. The new hangar is at the entrance to the Tauranga Airport, on Jean Batten Drive, Mount Maunganui.^[1]

The founders decided to focus on creating a flying museum, as opposed to one that just had static displays, with the intention of having a high number of museum aircraft movements.^[1]

The museum was officially opened on Saturday 28 May 2005 with an air display and fly-past.^[1]

Inside the main hangar

In October 2012, the museum launched the Legacy Jet Centre and celebrated the arrival of an Aermacchi aircraft to be restored. In recognition of funding from the Legacy Trust, the main hangar was named "The Legacy Jet Centre".^[5]

Currently, the museum is spread across three adjacent hangars, the first of which houses the visitor centre, Avgas Cafe, event spaces, and most of the museum exhibits, while the other two accommodate the bulk of the classic aircraft in working flying condition, and the museum archives.

Additional airplanes are on display outside the hangars. One of them is an old New Zealand National Airways Corporation DH-Heron, which is open to the public, but not in airworthy condition.^{[citation needed]}

Aims edit

The museum aims are:^[1]

Preserve classic and historic aircraft
Support the retention of New Zealand’s aviation history

The Trust focuses on preserving aircraft and memorabilia that has a connection to the Bay of Plenty area or New Zealand generally.^[1]

Collection edit

The museum aircraft collection includes:^[6]

Aermacchi MB-339
Boeing Stearman
Cessna 188 AGwagon
Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina (fuselage)
Curtiss P-40E Kittyhawk
de Havilland DH 104 Devon C.1
de Havilland DH 114 Heron
de Havilland Vampire
de Havilland DH 112 Venom
Douglas A-4K Skyhawk
EEL ULF 1 ultralight glider
Fletcher FU24
Grumman TBF-1C Avenger
Hall Cherokee II glider
Hawker Hunter T75
Hughes 300
North American Harvard
North American F-86 Sabre
Pacific Aerospace Corporation CT-4B Airtrainer
Pitts Special S-1C
Schleicher Ka-6CR glider
Slingsby T-45 Swallow glider
Supermarine Spitfire Mk V - replica
Victa Airtourer T-3A
Yakovlev Yak 52

References edit

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Classic Flyers Museum (August 2004). "About Us". Archived from the original on 2009-02-04. Retrieved 2009-07-24.
^ New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage (2006). "Classic Flyers Museum". Retrieved 2009-07-24.
^ Tourism Bay of Plenty (n.d.). "Classic Flyers NZ". Retrieved 2009-07-24.
^ totaltravel (n.d.). "Classic Flyers NZ". Archived from the original on 2008-10-21. Retrieved 2009-07-24.
^ "Legacy Jets". Classic Flyers Museum. Retrieved 2014-08-28.
^ Classic Flyers Museum (2023). "Check out some of the aircraft on display at Classic Flyers". Archived from the original on 30 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023.