Ohakea Museum to close

[phil]

The Ohakea museum will close on the 15th of April.

I don't have any further details at this stage, apparently an email went around on Friday afternoon about it, but it must have been late as I missed it. I'll add more tomorrow once I know more.

It is closing as part of the Ohakea upgrade (Project takatini) and there are apparently no plans to re-open a new facility. I don't know what will happen to all the items held by the museum, I assume they will be sent to Wigram, which will annoy a lot of people at Ohakea who worked hard to provide items for display AT Ohakea, not least of all the T/A-4 and Blunty, as well as numerous smaller items (ejection seats, racks, 20mm cannon, instrument panels, engines etc etc) and all the memorabilia from the 75 and 14 joe rooms, plus Fanshaw and the large scale model of the A4K.

Being right on SH1, Ohakea is a very good location, and since it will be the only remaining operational base, the logical place for a museum. There is a lot of history to display, I'd hate to see it all disapear down to Wigram and into storage. According to staff at Ohakea, the relationship between the Ohakea museum and Wigram has never been a happy one, how true this is, and how much bearing it has on the decision to close Ohakea I don't really know.

[Dave Homewood]

This is very shocking to hear.

I wonder if it was not making enough money to be a viable business?

I hope that everything will go to Wigram and be retained, rather than see the valuable collection sold off and broken up.

The Ohakea Wing of the RNZAF Museum was meant to be just a base museum, not concentrating on the RNZAF as a whole but on solely the history of Ohakea (which is an important history). It was basically started by one man I believe, the late Peter Strugnell. The museum used to be inside the base, that's where I first saw it. In 1992 I think it was, money was raised by Friends of the RNZAF Museum to move the museum out to the road (the whole building was moved, and then done up. I had thought at that stage it no longer had anything to do with the RNZAF, but instead was owned by the museum. I was under the belief they'd bought the building and land.

As talk on another thread says the move won't happen, it seems rather hasty and perhaps there is more to it than just the move from Whenuapai needing the land. I have to say last time I went past Ohakea I missed seeing the museum entirely as it no longer standsout at all to the motorist withiout the C-47 there. That was IMHO a real dumb move to dump that awesome billboard drawcard.

[phil]

At this stage construction at Ohakea is due to start in November, as far as everyone here is concerned it's happening, but then so were the F16s....

There have been contractors around base taking core samples of the soil structure using big drilling rig things, the joke is they are looking for oil to pay for the whole thing!

It's still a long term and expensive project, so I guess there is plenty of scope fo it to be cancelled, but I wouldn't bet on it at this time.

I agree with you about the Dakota, but the museum is still pretty good for it's relatively small size. At one stage a couple of years ago there were plans to build a tin shed hangar for the aircraft, but I heard that internal politics between Wigram and Ohakea stopped that.

Personnaly I'd rather see Wigram close and a new, full size RNZAF museum constructed at Ohakea. At least it would be on an operating base, not just in the middle of a housing developement. I'm sure Dave will soon chime in with wails of horror about that suggestion!

I'd like to suggest that if you care about this enough to write directly to the CAF about it, he is an ex Ohakea Base commander, so it might help? I doubt it, but you never know. David Crooks was visiting there today, hopefully he might say something.

[Peter Lewis]

That's really bad news.

[beagle]

Where did this decision come from.
You would think, places like this would never close, It must be a usefull tool for advertising for recruiting as well.
Yes on a main route so would get quite a bit of traffic.
What would be the chance of some sort of lotteries grant or lots of local enthusiasts to maybe chip in and sort something out.
I have never been to it.
You say it is owned by the RNZAF Musuem. What about the land , is it on base land.
What about looking at moving it to another place near by if they are looking at using that land for something else.
as for buying the place off the RNZAF Musuem, what have they put into it, much. i suppposse if there are a few workers there , they get paid out of the wigram musuem budget.

This is so unfair to airmen who have worked at Ohakea in the past and for others to learn about the bases history.

As for the closing of the musuem at wigram, yes the housing is getting ever closer, but i cannot see it ever moving from there.
To me, Wigram is the birth place of the RNZAF and was sad when it actually closed.
my opinion anyway.

[phil]

I'm really not sure the details of who owns the museum, the land must be the air force's, otherwise they wouldn't be utilising it as poart of takatini.

[beagle]

whats takatini

[phil]

Ohakea upgrade.

[Dave Homewood]

I agree with you about the Dakota, but the museum is still pretty good for it's relatively small size.

I agree, it's a great little museum. And considering it was put together basically by one guy. I recall in the early days they had lots of aviation archeology, dug up from around the base from crash sites. It was real interesting.

Personnaly I'd rather see Wigram close and a new, full size RNZAF museum constructed at Ohakea.

That would be utterly pointless and would kill the museum. Wigram is in the country's main tourism city, and is a major attraction there. It's also on the main road, well known and easily found. Most average people have heard of the place and know it's in Chch. Most average people have heard of Ohakea but have no idea where it is. Tourists don't go to Manawatu to see attractions, they only go there to pass through. Probably the main reason the Ohakea museum is closing, since it's not well known, and not in a tourism zone.

I've looked up some background - The Ohakea Wing of the RNZAF Museum was resited to the present Pukenui Road location in late 1991 but it took some time to get it up to operational standard after the move it seems. The money was raised to resite the museum from donations, the largest being $10,000 from the RNZRSA. They were raising funds through raffles too, including raffling Corsair models built by members of the Manawatu Scale Model Club.

The RNZAF Museum Trust Board gave them $60,000 to go towards paying for displays, etc.

Personally I think the closure may be a good thing for the airframes they have sitting outside in the weather. That Hudson section for one thing has several layers of original paint on it, it shouldn't be left in Ohakea's rain to wear away, it's a valuable reference and easily stored somewhere if not on display.

[Dave Homewood]

Here's a little more. The Ohakea Museum apparently began in 1976 by an enthusiastic Warrant Officer who bagan collecting items in part of an old H Block. By 1977 it had outgrown it's H block site and moved into the recently refurbished No. 2 Mess Hall.

Peter Strugnell was employed as director in 1978. Despite being situated in the middle of the operational base, visitors underwent clearances to get on base to visit it, and around 3000 people visited a year.

When it was realised that such museums were becoming popular around NZ, the Friend of the RNZAF Museum group began a feasability study in Feb 1991 to see if it was worth moving it to the more prominent location. Air Staff approved the move in Sept 1991. On Sept 23rd 1991 the building was cut into three parts and transported on big rig removal trucks to outside the gate. The usual Ohakea weather held up progress in laying a road and carpark for the building, and then renovations and installation of the artifacts meant it was not officially reopened on the current site till May 1993.

The Dakota moved there from Silverstream on the 18th of March 1992. It arrived in poor quality Olive Drab with no markings. The RNZAF painted it into RNZAF Pacific colours, with Olive Drab scheme and RNZAF Pacific roundels with bars. It was officially given the number NZ6289, so obviously some Skyhawk fans had a hand in the painting of it.

Later the Dakota was repainted into the higher viz scheme as now seen on the Warbirds Dakota, and renumbered NZ3547.

All the labour for the move of the museum was donated free by contractors and the RNZAF. Peter Strugnell and the museum board had raised $340,000 by April 1992 in both cash and kind for the move and upgrade project. $100,000 was a NZ Lottery Grant. Also the higher profile of the museum meant many people donated items.

An aviation auction was held there on the 9th of May 1992 to raise funds, and I believe this became an annual or regular thing for a while. Does it still happen?

April 1992's RNZAF News reports "Mr Strugnell is anxious to point out that the Ohakea museum is a branch of the RNZAF Musuem and not in competition with it. "We want to create a display that will tell the history of Ohakea," he says. Anything not relevant will be sent down to the RNZAF Museum. "I want it to be known as the friendly museum."

A publication I got at Wigram last year which seems to have been printed in 1997 or 1998 states that at the time the museum had a Strikemaster and a Harvard, and it also shows a photo of the C-47. They were about to get a Skyhawk simulator.

Do they still have the Harvard?

And what dos Takatini mean in English? I cannot find a translation.

Of course there could be another conspiracy theory in the closure of this museum. All that clapped out Skyhawk junk on display is an embarrassment to somebody....

[phil]

They do still have a havard, it is partly skinned in perspex so you can see the structure. They also have a vampire, or at lease a fuselage, and of course the Blunty and The A4K.

I agree that the Ohakea museum does not exactly look after it's exhibits. The armourers restored an anti aircraft gun that now looks terrible, it is quite rusted. Both the blunty and A4 have faded badly, and they have left the Mirage tail outside as well, and it is now covered in bird poo. All the weapons on the Skyhawk look terrible, also covered in bird poo and corroding.

Quite why the mirage tail is outside I do not know, it is not very large, it used to live in the knucks joe room, so doesn't take up much room. I had hoped with the new guy that took over a year or two ago that things would improve in this respect but sadly no.

The 'Skyhawk simulator' was a t bird nose section if I remember correctly, or possibly a mock up, also possibly the nose section that went to become '57'. It was in the museum for some time, it was first made for a NZDF display at Te Papa in the late '90s. The more I think about it the more I think it may have been the forward section that became '57', but don' t quote me on that. It had an escapac seat and a computer terminal in it I think.

I have no idea what takatini means, possibly it is spelt takitini.

[Dave Homewood]

Just a note - I updated my post above Phil's last with lots more background on the museum I just found.

[Dave Homewood]

Thanks for that on the Harvard, etc.

Just looked up Takitini, yes that's how the NZDF and RNZAF sites spell it. They call is Project Refine.

However the official Govt Maori dictionary states it means "in crowds, large numbers"

I'd say more "all your eggs in one basket"....

[phil]

After reading your post it seems even more of a waste to close it. There really was an awful lot of work done to get the museum up and running, to just close it so abruptly is quite disapointing.

[beagle]

If I was alocal and had donated some family thing to it, I would down there next week taking it back.

[Dave Homewood]

I agree Phil. It does seem a lot of work was put in. I think poor old Peter Strugnell will be spinning in his grave.

[phil82]

I knew Peter Strugnell. A lovely guy with an awfully , awfully English accent, an ex-RAF Canberra pilot from the days when they had dozens of Canberra squadrons. He did commentaries at air shows, with limited success, because he didn't always explain to the crowd what he was taking about. He commentated on the very last Canberra display at Ohakea, an Aussie, and he was talking with huge enthusiasm about "clean' and "dirty" displays and the crowd were mystified.

A lovely guy all the same, and one who died before his time.

[beagle]

is there a web site showing all they have etc

[Dave Homewood]

Ohakea Museum do not have a website, another of their shortcomings in this day and age.

However according to the RNZAF Museum site the museum at Ohakea is now known as the "Ohakea Exhibition Centre".

www.airforcemuseum.co.nz/main/Oh/

[flyjoe180]

Takatini appears to broadly mean 'strength' or 'group' which I guess relates to the consolidation of the Air Force in one place.