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Post by pjw4118 on Feb 18, 2018 15:56:58 GMT 12
I have been asked for a list of the best spots in NZ for spotting and photography, with a side request for best museums and old airfields. So here is my first pick , in no particular order
Auckland International ....eastern carpark
Ardmore ...under the tree by the Harvard lane gate
Wellington ... down by Island Bay
Ohakea ... sometimes sporadic and the new hangar makes it dificult
South Island ....sorry
Aero Museums * denotes active airfield as well
Classic Flyers Tauranga *
MOTAT ADH
Omaka .. WWI *
Warbirds Ardmore *
Masterton OFMC sometimes *
Ashburton ..*
Wigram
Ferrymead
Military Museums and sites
Navy Devonport
Waiuoru Army
Stoney Batter Waiheke
Old Airfields WWII Disused or seldom any traffic
Kaitaia
Waipapkauri
Kaikohe
Seagrove
Te Pirita ..now mainly gone
Haast
Any and all suggestions welcome
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Post by baz62 on Feb 18, 2018 16:49:24 GMT 12
Christchurch has a couple of spots. Either end of the main runway, (Threshold of 20 has a small car park area) plus the roads running near threshold of 02 and can also access 11 and 29 (although 29 (for the good old Nor Wester) takes a little bit of research on the map to find best way to get to as the turn off from Johns road has gone or been absorbed by new building access roads but should be easy to find out. Rangiora for the light aircraft buff (although there is a Yak52 and I think a Nanchang based there too plus helicopters) has a road beside runway end.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Feb 18, 2018 17:37:11 GMT 12
Omaka has a lot of WWII stuff in the museum now too, as well as active on the airfield. Plus a lot of other aircraft from all eras.
There's GAPS in Gisborne, they have been going ahead lately with quite an enthusiastic team now sorting that museum out.
There's a transport museum in New Plymouth with some aviation content too I believe.
And who could forget Wanaka!
Founders Museum in Nelson has a Bristol Freighter and a Sioux I think.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Feb 18, 2018 17:38:03 GMT 12
And there is Brayshaw Park in Blenheim that does not have aircraft but does have displays dedicated to the wartime Air Force bases around Marlborough.
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Post by ErrolC on Feb 18, 2018 20:02:17 GMT 12
I have been asked for a list of the best spots in NZ for spotting and photography, with a side request for best museums and old airfields. So here is my first pick , in no particular order Auckland International ....eastern carpark Ardmore ...under the tree by the Harvard lane gate I generally prefer the North side due to better light, but I am normally there for panning practice rather than spotting per se. Handy driveway near Eastern end of Airfield Rd (great if landing on grass from East). Also the veranda at the Aero Club/Cafe, and carpark at 140 de Havilland Lane (especially if desired subject is taking off from the grass, like the Ryan was on Saturday). Auckland War Memorial Museum (Zero and Spitfire, various other military displays) North Head, Auckland (DOC-run ex-navy coastal fortifications) |
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Post by tbf25o4 on Feb 19, 2018 9:53:40 GMT 12
Aviation heritage museum on the airport at Paraparaumu below the old control tower which has been preserved as it was the first control tower built post-WWII
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Post by mumbles on Feb 20, 2018 21:05:11 GMT 12
Wellington ... down by Island Bay Won't see much from there. Carparks at the northern end of the runway and around and above the Air Traffic Control building are much better, or the little park with seating on the other side of the runway where the aeroclub entrance used to be. Southern end you can park just off road near the breakwater or around Moa Point. If you have a longer lens the summit of Mount Victoria and the WW2 bunkers above Strathmore are good spots. Ohakea ... sometimes sporadic and the new hangar makes it dificult Frecklington Road still works if you don't mind a bit of polite scrutiny by Force Protection on the other side of the fence  |
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Post by nuuumannn on Feb 22, 2018 20:42:14 GMT 12
Aww, don't apologise. Lots down here, you'll have to come take a look one day. Good viewing for spotters at Nelson Airport, there's still an outdoor viewing area over the tarmac - a rare thing these days, but it'll disappear when the new terminal is finished. You can still walk the entire airfield perimeter, though.  Dash at NelsonOver Blenheim aside from what's been mentioned, (The AHC, Brayshaw Park) there's the Argosy Cafe and there are a few wee memorials for the interested, there's Euan Dickson's memorial on the site where he landed after flying over from the North island on Dillon's Pont Road and just outside Renwick on the corner of the turn-off to go to the Waihopai valley and ogle at the spy base is a memorial to RNZAF Delta. Further south in Chch, of course there is the Air Force Museum, Ferrymead and then Ashburton Aviation Museum an hour away. At Wanaka there's Warbirds and Wheels and the Wanaka Toy and Transport Museum, if only to demonstrate how not to display a surprisingly diverse collection of airframes. Further south there's Old Mandeville, which is well worth risking the drive through Gore to get to. Also a military site worth visiting in Dunedin is the Taiaroa Head albatross sanctuary, which has an Armstrong disappearing gun within the point. As for some of the smaller airfields around the South Island, I'd defer to Peter Lewis, who has a great knowledge of them. There are plenty of other historic sites, on the way to Murchison from Nelson in a car park rest stop is a memorial to ZK-AHT that crashed in the mountains nearby. In Murchison itself at the tiny museum is an Oxford prop, and the same in Akaroa in a general store commemorating the Oxford that crashed into the town. Further north in Collingwood at the teeny weeny museum there are various items relating to air crashes in the area including a Hudson prop and other RNZAF ephemera. For those who want a nice walk on the way to Wharariki Beach is Pillar Point, where there is the remains of an RNZAF radar station; not much left, but a few foundations and stones, but the view is spectacular, looking across the entire expanse of Farewell Spit, although the recent storms have cut Golden Bay off from the rest of the country by road. Hokitika has the former Hoki airfield on the south side of the town over the bridge, and further down the road, is Guy Menzies' landing site in the middle of a farmer's field marked by a staff, but there is a stone marking the occasion near the field itself. There's also a mock-up of the Avian in a building on the side of the highway. Across the other side of the country is Waitohi and the Pearse memorial overlooking his farm, although the ole chestnut of him flying in 1903 is recorded on the plaque on the marker with the generic Pearse plane atop a pole. I'm sure there's more that I've not mentioned... |
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Post by pjw4118 on Feb 23, 2018 12:09:34 GMT 12
Thats great , many thanks . Ah yes Island Bay , I was relying on my wifes memory who lived in Newlands for 20 years perhaps she meant Lyall Bay or even Castle Point . These women have their devious ways to interfere with spotting.
Dave what is the status of that military museum out of Cambridge , was it burnt out ?
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Post by Dave Homewood on Feb 23, 2018 15:31:30 GMT 12
Burnt out? Not to my knowledge. Andy Moreland died but his son Grant now runs the Tauwhare Military Museum I believe.
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Post by pjw4118 on Mar 7, 2018 16:46:10 GMT 12
My spotter has arrived from the UK and loved Ardmore , just being able to stroll into places and have a talk . He is drifting south with the list and has added Fox Glacier as he's a helicopter lover . He is off to Tauranga then Gisborne and hopes to catch some iconic Kiwi topdressers on the way. I suggested to call the local company to find out where they are working.
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Post by ErrolC on Apr 10, 2018 8:18:05 GMT 12
I have been asked for a list of the best spots in NZ for spotting and photography, with a side request for best museums and old airfields. So here is my first pick , in no particular order Auckland International ....eastern carpark Ardmore ...under the tree by the Harvard lane gate I generally prefer the North side due to better light, but I am normally there for panning practice rather than spotting per se. Handy driveway near Eastern end of Airfield Rd (great if landing on grass from East). Also the veranda at the Aero Club/Cafe, and carpark at 140 de Havilland Lane (especially if desired subject is taking off from the grass, like the Ryan was on Saturday). Sometime over summer, the driveway (over a pipe) was ripped out, and the ditch in general cleared with a digger - there is a reason insect spray lives in my camera bag. Still plenty of room to park completely off the seal, but no easy access to solid posts to rest your elbow on, or put your phone so raising your camera doesn't disrupt the connection to your Bluetooth earphones. |
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Post by duncanc on Apr 23, 2019 21:51:35 GMT 12
I'm still quite partial to sitting on the end of the runway at Ardmore:
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