Aviation Heritage Centre

Omaka, New Zealand

During the summer of 1918, Major Keith ‘Grid’ Caldwell was in command of RFC No. 74 squadron, based in Saint-Omer, France. While leading a raid across German lines in his Royal Air Factory S.E.5a, the New Zealander had a mid-air collision with squadron mate Sidney ‘Timbertoes’ Carlin (he had a wooden leg). Carlin maintained control of his craft, but Caldwell’s left aileron was badly damaged and the S.E.5a began an uncontrolled roll to the right. Not wanting to die in a fiery crash, Grid decided to jump from the plane (without a parachute). As he climbed out onto the left wing to jump, his weight suddenly stopped the rotation. Standing half on the wing and half in the cockpit, he was able to guide the plane back over Allied lines and jump clear just before it crashed. A diorama depicting this event is one of the many interesting displays in The Omaka Aviation Heritage Museum.

This museum is different from any aviation museum I have ever seen, as many of the planes are displayed in dioramas, all in a very dramatic manner. The seeds of the museum began in the mid-1990s when several enthusiasts based their vintage planes at Omaka Airport in Blenheim. More aircraft were attracted there and eventually the New Zealand Aviation Museum Trust (NZAMT) was formed. By 1997, plans for several museums on the field were underway. At this point the film maker Sir Peter Jackson, a huge WW-I buff, became involved. Jackson, the director of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings movies as well as the amazing WW-I documentary They Shall Not Grow Old, began collecting memorabilia at an early age. By 2005, when the WW-I museum was finally built, Sir Peter had collected enough material to fill the entire museum. What is so unique about it is that Jackson also lent his directorial eye and his production company’s skills to the design and lighting of the displays, and it really shows.

Entering the relatively small museum, one of the first dioramas you come to is a flight of German Etrich Taubes under attack by an RFC Be.2. This is not just a plane on display but an entire scene. The planes are not suspended 10-20 feet above, but are hanging at eye-level, with the attacking plane coming in from above, putting the viewer right in the action.

The attacking plane above is beautifully represented by a half-scale model. The second Taube is also smaller. The varying sizes give the entire scene a great depth, while it is all enhanced by dramatic lighting. The crew of the lead plane is fully modelled and the entire scene was obviously put together with the eye of a movie director.

Probably the most dramatic and popular display is this event that took place behind German lines, in heavy snow. A German Siemens-Schuckert D.IV has shot down a Nieuport 27 of the RFC (Royal Flying Corps, later the RAF). The Nieuport crash-landed in a tree and the unhurt pilot climbed out. The German flier saw this and landed his plane nearby to ensure the safety of the British pilot. His concern was that the pilot was treated properly, as a pilot and officer.

History of Aviation Museums, Memorial Museum, Aviation history around the world

With ground troops looking on, the British pilot is offered a cigarette by his German victor and the scene, which could have been painted by Robert Taylor, exudes mutual respect. An amazing display.

When visiting a museum like this, you never know what reception you will receive from the staff. Sometimes you are greeted and offered a tour or other information. Sometimes, you never see anyone. This is understandable, as small aviation museums are often staffed by volunteers and usually understaffed. When you can speak with a staff member, however, they can offer interesting insights. On this day we were lucky. We were given a tour, and our guide, Eric Driver, was exceptional. He was friendly and knowledgeable and offered a number of interesting little tidbits. While talking about this snow scene, for instance, he mentioned that during WW-I, more downed flyers landed behind German lines than on the Allied side. The reason for this was that the aerial battlefield was fairly small, mainly above the front lines, and the prevailing winds were generally west to east, tending to push the aerial battles eastward, A simple observation I had never considered before.

Another aspect of the Omaka Museum is that, although there are many full-sized aircraft on display, only three are original, the rest being reproductions. Of course, it must be said, that as WW-I aircraft were mainly built of wood and fabric, very few originals survive.The fact that these are reproductions, not originals, is somewhat mitigated by the fact that many are flyable. As you tour the impeccable museum, you eventually notice that many of the planes have drip pans under the motors. The pans are kept spotless, and are not intrusive, but they lead you to inspect the engines closer. There is just a subtle difference between a spotless, operational engine, and a fully restored one that never runs. The motors on the planes are faithful to the original designs, and most have been built from scratch by Jackson’s restoration team.

This wonderful scene of a front-line maintenance facility contains one of the museum’s original aircraft. It is an American Thomas Morse Scout, or ‘Tommy’. It was a trainer and, as such, was unlikely to have been in France during WW-I. That doesn’t detract at all from the viewer’s experience as it is displayed in the condition it was found (most likely unchanged from the 1920s) and presents a great slice of aviation history. This photo shows just a small part of the diorama, which has an incredible amount of detail.

There are two small rooms in the center of the museum with display cases full of memorabilia. It is an extensive collection of incredible diversity; interesting and well-organized. There are many unique items such as actual uniforms of famous pilots including; Rene Fonck, Eddie Rickenbacker and Herman Goering. The rooms are similar in shape and size- one devoted to Allied memorabilia, the other to German artifacts. Eric pointed out similarities and subtle differences. One interesting difference is that the German pilots kept many personal items with them, while Allied pilots tended to just have mundane, utilitarian items. Most of the German pilots (and British) came from the wealthy aristocracy. The German aristocrats were big on hunting trophies and some carried on this tradition as they flew in the war, having a trophy made for each aerial kill. There are several silver cups on display that Manfred von Richthofen (the Red Baron) had made for his first kills. When he reached 10, he had a large one made. These trophies did not continue for all of his 80 victories as the family metal smith eventually could no longer get silver. The Red Baron didn’t want a trophy in a lesser metal!

The two memorabilia rooms being in the middle of the building makes a nice departure from common practice, as the display cases were a natural part of the tour flow, not just stuck along a wall in random places. These rooms stray a little from the WW-I theme, as there are some pre-and post-war artifacts such as items associated with Louis Bleriot, the first man to fly the English Channel, in 1909.

As you leave the German room, you come to a crashed Fokker Triplane, representing the last flight of the Red Baron. Unlike any museum I have ever seen, the plane is presented after von Richthofen’s final flight, in a crashed condition, with his lifeless body lying on the ground. The plane came down on the Allied side and there are many interesting details. A number of Australian ground troops are depicted. On one side of the fuselage there are several

people attending to von Richthofen’s body, while on the other side troops are cutting the German Cross out of the fuselage, as a memento. Most of the plane and even von Richthofen’s personal items, such as his flying boots were taken as souvenirs. Many of these items survive in various museums and one of the original Iron Crosses from the fuselage is displayed here. You could easily spend an hour at each diorama discovering the many little details. Eric talked a little about the Red Baron’s last flight. He had been engaged with a couple of Sopwith Camels, one British, one Canadian, when he was hit in the chest by a shell. He managed to crash land, but then succumbed to his injuries. The Canadian pilot was credited with the kill, but recent research suggests that the shell might have been from ground fire.

Here is the diorama described at the beginning, it’s another actual event. The SE.5A pilot (New Zealander Clive Caldwell) had a mid-air collision that damaged his left aileron (you can see the damage on the upper wing). We stand behind Caldwell for a great view of the last seconds before the plane crashed and Caldwell jumped clear. It is almost like being his wingman. Our guide pointed out that Caldwell went on to be an Air Commodore during WW-II. Another interesting tidbit pointed out here is that Caldwell was not wearing a parachute. Eric mentioned that the parachute had been invented and some German pilots wore them. The official stance of the Allied high command, however, was that pilots should be focused on aerial combat- not jumping to safety.

At one point you come across four Fokker Triplanes. They are all replicas (very accurate replicas) and all four regularly fly (note the drip pans). They each have a different paint scheme, as the Germans had no definitive paint standards. As long as you bought your own paint, you could have any scheme you wanted!

Jackson has a model making facility for his films, and they produced approximately 50 identical Fokker models (They look to be around 1/76 scale). They each have an accurate paint scheme of the original, and almost all are different.

Speaking of aircraft paint, the museum has one of the two replica Phalz D.III aircraft used in the filming of the WW-I movie The Blue Max. Hoping to add this plane to the collection, museum staff tracked down one of the aircraft in Alabama, in very poor condition. It was purchased and shipped to Omaka and fully restored to flying condition. Eric pointed out that the plane originally had an exact paint scheme from WW-I. During filming of the movie, however, it was discovered that the colors did not capture well on film, and so various additional highlights and colors were added. The museum’s display is true to that movie paint scheme. Just a note here about the museum lighting. Jackson and his team added very dramatic, movie inspired, lighting for each display. The lighting makes for great in-person viewing, but it also makes picture taking difficult. I apologize for some of the photos that are not up to usual standards.

As mentioned, this museum is totally devoted to WW-I. Many museums specialize in an era, but often branch out to other areas to fill their space. It is unusual to find a museum that totally sticks to a specific era. My aviation interest generally starts after WW-I, but I found this museum one of the most unique and interesting I have ever visited and it gave me an opportunity to learn more about the history of WW-I flying.

The objective of this blog is to give exposure to all the wonderful, lesser known, aviation museums in the US and to encourage people to visit and support them. Occasionally, though, I visit a museum outside of the US that is just too interesting to leave out. The Aviation Heritage Centre in Omaka, New Zealand, is such a place and I hope you have enjoyed it. If you live in New Zealand, or visit there, do not miss this museum. And plan to spend plenty of time.

PLANNING YOUR VISIT

The museum is open 7 days a week. 1 May - 30 November: 10am - 5pm (last entry at 4pm). 1 December-30 April (their summer): 9am - 5pm (last entry at 4pm). Tickets are $25NZ (approximately $16.75) with package prices available for the other two museums (see below).

When you visit, be sure to mention this blog!

FLYING IN

The museum is located on the Omaka Blenheim Airport (NZOM) and you can park quite close to the museum. It is an uncontrolled field with 3,200’ runways (1/19 and 12/30), as well as a shorter grass strip. Fuel is available but there are no approaches. There are various warbirds based on the field- we saw a T-6 and a Bristol Freighter during our short stay.

LOCAL ATTRACTIONS

If you are visiting this museum, you either live in New Zealand or you have made the long trek for vacation and won’t really need recommendations. Several things to note, though. There are two other museums in the same location: there is a World War II aviation museum and a classic car museum. It would be easy to spend an entire day here and you can get a discounted ticket for two or all three of the museums. If you are interested in antiques in general, especially vintage machinery, then plan a visit to the Marlborough Farming museum which is nearby. There are buildings full of all kinds of vintage equipment, transplanted period buildings and lots of interesting and unique items. Well worth the visit. And a final note. Although it is not very close to Blenheim, Sir Peter Jackson’s Hobbiton movie set should not be missed.

Note- after posting this blog, I received this note from Rachael Brown at the museum-” I just wanted to clarify the ownership of the World War II exhibition, Dangerous Skies. This is part of the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre as opposed to a separate museum and at the time of your visit on display include a Mk.14 Griffon Powered Spitfire, a FW190, the world's only flyable Mk1. Avro Anson and a Yak3. All of these are flyable and the latter two are even available for joy flights! As of mid-July 2019 the WWII exhibition has been closed for the installation of new exhibits including a Lockheed Hudson which is on loan from the owner of the Anson. The latter of which has been moved to an adjacent hangar so that Bill can fly her more frequently. This exhibition has been created independently of Sir Peter but is faithful to the style of Dangerous Skies. We are due to open the exhibition again in two weeks and look forward to sharing more amazing stories of courage and valor with our guests. Thank you again for choosing to write about Omaka, it is much appreciated. Kind regards Rachael”.

Thanks Rachael for the additional information!

MUSEUM WEBSITE

https://www.omaka.org.nz/

FURTHER READING

All Quiet on The Western Front and The Guns of August are, of course well-known books of WW-I. There are also a number of books about Eddie Rickenbacker, The Red Baron and many other WW-I aces, any of which are worth a read. I would also recommend Seven Came Through; the true story of Rickenbacker’s B-17 transport that was shot down in the Pacific during WW-II. It is an amazing account of survival at sea. Written by Rickenbacker in 1943, it is also a passionate call for more assets in the Pacific and his thoughts on how to win the war. It’s a great story and an interesting period piece. The museum publishes an excellent guide; Omaka’s Knights of the Sky, available on their website. The photography is outstanding. Sir Peter Jackson’s movie, They Shall Not Grow Old, is available on Netflix, Amazon Prime and other services.

UP NEXT

Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum, Cape May, NJ

MUSEUMS ARE WHERE YOU FIND THEM (New Zealand version)

This segment is dedicated to finding interesting aviation artifacts that are in public view- but not in an aviation museum. If you see one send a photo!

A few minutes after leaving The Omaka Museum, we passed this Armstrong Whitworth Argosy being used as part of a restaurant. The restaurant had a for sale sign out front. Tempting!