MikeOscarTangoUniformEchoKiloAlpha (Motueka) - Cleared for take off

Telling the history of our Aerodrome from the beginning through to today

Our main exhibition this year is about Motueka's Aerodrome, from its inception through to activities today. The first plane to land here in 1921, which caused much interest, as most locals had not, physically, seen a plane before, this was followed by Sir Charles Kingsford Smith's arrival at the aerodrome in March 1934.

"Sheep and Hay" - you wouldn't normally associate those two things with an aerodrome, but in the early days sheep were used to keep the grass down, and they had to be rounded up in order for planes to take off and land. The sheep were later replaced by a harvester to make hay. Many locals can still recall those days.

We also had a local airline, Associated Aviation Motueka, but sadly no longer exists.

Activities today include skydiving, hang gliding, microlights, stunt plane flights, the Aeroclub is still going strong and we also have the Nelson Aviation College based here.

Exhibition includes activities for the young and young at heart.