Plane-spotters in Christchurch are getting excited as a RNZAF Orion currently wings its way to Christchurch... but in pieces.
The decommissioned aircraft was disassembled at Marlborough’s Base Woodbourne for the long road trip south, making its way to its new home at Wigram's Airforce Museum.
However the 12-truck convoy was deemed too long, closing roads as they made their way south.
A decision was made to send the wings, engines, propellers and other parts ahead, with the 36-metre-long fuselage scheduled for transport by road in two weeks.
The Lockheed P3K Orion was one of six retired by the Airforce earlier this yea, after a collective service of more than a century.
They have been replaced by four Boeing Poseidon aircraft to continue in their airborne surveillance role.
The convoy has reached Amberley, and was expected to make the road journey to the Airforce Museum of New Zealand overnight, set to arrive in the early hours of tomorrow morning.
- By Geoff Sloan
Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
