The Royal New Zealand Air Force is the aerial service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed initially in 1923 as a branch of the New Zealand Army, being known as the New Zealand Permanent Air Force, becoming an independent air force on 1 April 1937.
The Avro Type 694 Lincoln is a British four-engined heavy bomber, which first flew on 9 June 1944. Developed from the Avro Lancaster, the first Lincoln variants were initially known as the Lancaster IV and V; these were renamed Lincoln I and II. It was the 2nd last piston-engined bomber operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF).
No. 42 Squadron is an active transport squadron of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF). It was formed at Rongotai Airport (Wellington) in December 1943 to provide a communications service around New Zealand, initially using impressed civilian types. It was briefly officially disbanded in 1946, but its aircraft continued with general purpose operations at RNZAF Station Ohakea. When reformed, the squadron was equipped with various numbers of North American Harvard, Auster, Grumman Avenger, Airspeed Oxford, de Havilland Devon, North American P-51 Mustang and Douglas Dakota aircraft.
No. 5 Group RAF was a Royal Air Force bomber group of the Second World War, led during the latter part by AVM Sir Ralph Cochrane.
No. 2 Squadron RNZAF was a squadron of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF). It was formed in 1930 as part of the Territorial Air Force with the main headquarters at Wellington and shadow flights at New Plymouth and Wanganui. Squadron personnel conducted their annual flying at RNZAF Base Wigram. In 1937 the Territorial Squadrons were re-organised and No. 2 Squadron became the Wellington Territorial Squadron.
14 Squadron RNZAF is a squadron of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. In 2015 the squadron was re-raised and equipped with 11 Beechcraft T-6 Texan II. A new aerobatic display team called the Black Falcons was also formed using the new aircraft. They replaced the RNZAF display team known as the Red Checkers.
No. 75 Squadron was a unit of the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force in World War I and the RAF in World War II. In 1940–1945, it was a bomber unit composed mainly of New Zealand-born personnel. In October 1945, the squadron number – along with its heraldry and honours – was relinquished by the RAF and transferred to the Royal New Zealand Air Force, officially becoming No. 75 Squadron RNZAF. No other RAF squadron has been gifted in this way, to another Commonwealth air force.
RNZAF Base Ohakea is an operational base of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. Opened in 1939, it is located near Bulls, 25 km north-west of Palmerston North in the Manawatū. It is also used as an alternate airport for civilian aircraft. The base's motto is Defensio per vires.
No. 488 Squadron was the name given to two distinct Royal New Zealand Air Force squadrons during the Second World War. Both were formed under Article XV of the Empire Air Training Scheme and served under the operational command of the Royal Air Force.
The Air Force Museum of New Zealand, formerly called The Royal New Zealand Air Force Museum, is located at Wigram, the RNZAF's first operational base, in Christchurch, in the South Island of New Zealand. It opened on 1 April 1987 as part of the celebrations for the RNZAF's 50th anniversary, and is primarily a museum of the Royal New Zealand Air Force, its predecessor, the New Zealand Permanent Air Force and New Zealand squadrons of the Royal Air Force. The Air Force Museum of New Zealand's mission is to preserve and present the history of New Zealand military aviation for commemoration, learning, inspiration and enjoyment.
No. 487 (NZ) Squadron was a light bomber squadron established for service during the Second World War. It was a New Zealand squadron formed under Article XV of the Empire Air Training Plan. Although many of its flying personnel were largely drawn from the Royal New Zealand Air Force, the squadron served in Europe under the operational and administrative command of the Royal Air Force as part of Bomber Command. Formed in mid-1942, it operated the Lockheed Ventura and then the de Havilland Mosquito and took part in over 3,000 operational sorties before being disbanded at the end of the war in late 1945.
Project Kahu was a major upgrade program for the A-4K Skyhawk attack aircraft operated by the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) in the mid-1980s. Prior to the implementation of the upgrade, the A-4K Skyhawks, which had served with the RNZAF since 1970, had become dated compared to modern jet fighter aircraft.The project was named after the Māori-language name for the New Zealand swamp harrier.
No. 189 Squadron was a Royal Air Force squadron.
No. 463 Squadron RAAF was a Royal Australian Air Force heavy bomber squadron during World War II. The squadron was formed in the United Kingdom in late 1943 from personnel and aircraft allocated from No. 467 Squadron RAAF. The squadron was equipped with Avro Lancaster bombers and flew its first raids on Germany immediately after being formed. Operating as part of RAF Bomber Command No. 463 Squadron conducted raids against cities, industrial facilities and military targets in Germany, France and Norway throughout 1944 and until the end of the war in May 1945. Following the war, the squadron evacuated Allied prisoners of war from Europe until it was disbanded in late 1945.
No. 467 Squadron RAAF was a Royal Australian Air Force bomber squadron, active over North West Europe during World War II. Formed in November 1942 as an Article XV Squadron in Britain, the squadron was notionally an Australian squadron under the command of the Royal Air Force, and consisted of a mixture of personnel from various Commonwealth nations. After becoming operational in early 1943, the squadron flew operations in Occupied Europe until the end of the war flying Avro Lancaster heavy bombers. It was scheduled to deploy to the Far East to take part in further operations against Japan, but the war ended before it could complete its training and the squadron was disbanded in September 1945.
Article XV squadrons were Australian, Canadian, and New Zealand air force squadrons formed from graduates of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (1939) during World War II.
The New Zealand Squadron was the name given by the Royal Air Force to the men of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) in the United Kingdom to train on the 30 Vickers Wellington Mk1C bombers the New Zealand Government ordered in 1938 to introduce the latest in aviation military technology to the RNZAF. Some RNZAF aircrew had been sent to the United Kingdom and others already there were posted to the group training on the new aircraft based at RAF Marham in Norfolk commencing on 1 June 1939 under the command of Squadron Leader Maurice Buckley. The crews were to fly the aircraft to New Zealand in batches of six, to their new airbase, RNZAF Base Ohakea in the country's North Island, that was being built to receive them.
The McDonnell Douglas A-4G Skyhawk is a variant of the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk attack aircraft developed for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The model was based on the A-4F variant of the Skyhawk, and was fitted with slightly different avionics as well as the capacity to operate AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. The RAN received ten A-4Gs in 1967 and another ten in 1971, and operated the type from 1967 to 1984.
In May 2001 the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand decided to disband the Royal New Zealand Air Force's air combat force by withdrawing its Douglas A-4K Skyhawk fighter aircraft and Aermacchi MB-339 trainers without replacement. This followed a debate over whether 28 General Dynamics F-16 A/B Fighting Falcon fighter aircraft should be leased from the United States to replace the Skyhawks. The RNZAF's air combat units were disbanded in October 2001, and many of the aircraft were eventually sold.
The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) operated Douglas A-4 Skyhawk attack jet-aircraft from 1970 to 2001. The aircraft equipped the RNZAF's Strike Wing, serving with No. 75 Squadron and, from 1984, No. 2 Squadron. In late 2001, the aircraft were controversially withdrawn from service without being replaced. Some were donated to aviation museums in New Zealand and Australia and the remainder were sold to Draken International, a private military contractor to the United States, in 2012.
New Zealand 
Royal New Zealand Air Force 
