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Just outside Blenheim, at the top of the South Island, is Omaka airfield. This is home to Sir Peter Jackson's (he of 'Lord of the Rings' fame and aviation tragic) Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre. It comprises two display areas - 'Knights of the Sky' for WWI aircraft, and 'Dangerous Skies' for WWII aircraft.
What helps make the visit a must are that the founder's background in film direction has been implemented in magnificent sets, especially for the WWI exhibition. Set designers from Wingnut Films (The Hobbit, LotR, etc) created the displays, and the mannequins came from the Weta Workshop (also Hobbit, LotR, etc).
We threw caution to the wind and decided on both displays, broken up by a much-needed cuppa and calorie-free chocolate muffin at their café.
Just as a heads-up, the lighting was very dim in the Centre, so I apologise in advance for quite a bit of noise in some of the photos.
Knights of the Sky - WWI:
Most of the aircraft in this section were replicas, but a lot of them are airworthy.
Caproni CA.22. This is one of only three original aircraft here.
An Etrich Taube being set upon by an R.E.8
Airco DH.2
Airco DH.4 - the 2nd original aircraft here, and only one other has survived.
The Airco DH.2 being bounced by a Fokker E.III Eindecker.
Curtis MF flying boat is the 3rd original aircraft.
AMBULANCE! Ground crew help a wounded pilot from his Moraine-Saulnier BB.
His observer looks like he didn't make it.
The crew of a Breguet 14 being briefed for a mission.
Nieuport 24
'You can't park that there, Mein Herr.'
The Siemens-Schuckert D.IV was the victor; the Nieuport 27 having been forced down.
The demise of Baron von Richtofen's Fokker DR.I
A Pfaltz D.III with 'Lozenge' camouflage pattern on the upper wing.
Four Fokker DR.I Triplane replicas - all flyable. Model at back is a Sopwith Triplane.
I think this is a 5/8 scale Hawker Hart. Not part of the museum, but parked outside.
Dangerous Skies - WWII:
Most of the aircraft in this section were real. Some of them are airworthy.
Pilot's Dispersal Hut c1940.
Supermarine Spitfire Mk.14
Focke-Wulf Fw 190A.
De Havilland DH.98 Mosquito F.B.VI. Was in a barn for 60 years. Engines work.
Yakovlev Yak-3 with pilot Lydia Litvyak, credited with 16 German planes.
Not a view of a Junkers Ju-87 Stuka that you'd want in real life.
Curtiss P-40N Kittyhawk Mk.IV. RNZAF combat survivor from the Pacific campaign.
Lockheed Hudson Mk.IIIA. Possible future restoration project.
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