The Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre in Blenheim was built by aviation enthusiasts who wanted to share their passion with others.

The museum’s roots were laid in the late 1990s with the arrival of two Chinese Nanchang trainers, which caught the public’s interest and the establishment of the Marlborough Warbirds Association.

Soon other heritage aircraft were drawn to Marlborough’s ideal flying weather and environment, and people began asking to see the growing collection stored at Omaka.

In 1997, discussions on how to allow public access began and the New Zealand Aviation Museum Trust was established.

The result is a permanent exhibition of one of the world’s largest collections of World War One aircraft, both static and flyable, and rare memorabilia, owned by The Hobbit director Sir Peter Jackson.

The Knights of the Sky exhibition brings human stories from the Great War to life in captivating scenes created by internationally acclaimed WingNut Films and Weta Workshop.

WW2 exhibition Dangerous Skies broadens the Omaka experience into the more familiar territory of World War Two, even while breaking new ground. Taking visitors on a journey the through lesser-known stories of the war on the Eastern front, those of the world’s only female fighter aces and the most famous of all women regiments; Russia’s 588th Night Bombers, or ‘Night Witches’ as the Germans called them.

Like World War One’s Knights of the Sky, Dangerous Skies features mannequins made by Weta Workshop, and original, flyable static aircraft in larger-than-life dioramas, capturing specific snapshots in history.

In 2019, Dangerous Skies has undergone a refresh and the main exhibition area now holds two additional aircraft, both originals and never seen before at Omaka. The first a Messerschmitt Bf108 once owned and flown by German ace Franz Stigler, and the second a Lockheed Hudson, an American-built light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft which has been suspended in a dramatic crash scene in the depths of a Pacific island jungle.

The Griffon-powered Spitfire Mk. XIV (one of fewer than a handful of flying spitfires in Australasia), is still in residence as is the Focke-Wulf Fw-190. Full Noise, a Russian Yak-3Ua and a Reno Air Races' Gold Class alumni is on display alongside fighter ace Lydia Litvyak. This aircraft is capable of speeds up to 407 mph and is available for joy flights!

The Centre is open 7 days a week and closed Christmas Day only, check out more on how to visit here.