Air Force Museum of New Zealand Vickers Vildebeest restoration - an overview

Описание: Typical of the large, all-metal bi-planes manufactured in Britain during the 1930s, the Vickers Vildebeest represented New Zealand’s first ever fleet of newly purchased aircraft for the fledgling Royal New Zealand Air Force. NZ102 was one of those first 12 aircraft and its remains now represent the only significant collection of Vildebeest structure to have survived globally.

In mid-2020, the Air Force Museum of New Zealand embarked on a project to restore and rebuild this important aircraft. With no engineering drawings and precious few other technical references available, this project represents a major challenge. A reverse engineering approach has been adopted where the existing structure is painstakingly disassembled to learn how to re-assemble the airframe.

This interview, with Collections Manager Darren Hammond, looks at the engineering challenges involved in progressing this project and the reasons behind the Museum’s decision to embark on such a complex task when there are no guarantees that it will result in a completed aircraft. It will also look at the benefits of a new multi-disciplinary team approach to the planning and execution of the project, with Research Curator Simon Moody sharing some of the findings from his research into the aircraft's service history.