No. 40 Squadron RNZAF
| No. 40 Squadron RNZAF | |
|---|---|
| Active |
June 1943 – October 1947 December 1954 – present |
| Country |
 New Zealand |
| Allegiance | Queen Elizabeth II |
| Branch |
 Royal New Zealand Air Force |
| Role | Transport |
| Size | Squadron |
| Motto |
Maori: Ki nga hau e wha English: To the four winds |
No. 40 Squadron RNZAF is a transport squadron in the Royal New Zealand Air Force. It remains on active duty.
History
Origins
The squadron was formed at Whenuapai on 1 June 1943 as No. 40 Transport Squadron RNZAF. It was equipped with Dakota and Lockheed Lodestars and carried men and supplies to forward areas throughout the Pacific theatre. Within the squadron organisation was a ferry flight of aircrew which regularly flew delivery flights from the mainland US and Hawaii to New Zealand of new aircraft such as the Catalina flying boat and Ventura. The Squadron was disbanded on 31 October 1947 and most of its crews and aircraft were transferred to the government owned National Airways Corporation.
No. 40 Squadron reformed on 8 December 1954 with four Handley Page Hastings, one of which competed in the October 1953 London-Christchurch air race. The Squadron was supplemented with three Douglas DC-6 acquired from the defunct Australian airline, British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines by 1961. The five current Lockheed C-130H Hercules were purchased in 1965.
Three Boeing 727s were purchased second hand from Boeing in 1981, all ex United Airlines. NZ7271 19892 entered service in July 1981 and was retired on 7 July 2003. (It became 3D-KMJ and then 9Q-CMP in Africa and was scrapped in 2005). NZ7272 19893 entered service in July 1981 and was retired to Woodbourne as an instructional airframe on 25 August 2003. NZ7273 19895 was the first 727 delivered, on 6 May 1981, but flew only 21 hours, being intended from the start to be a source of spare parts. It was retired 25 June 1981.[1] The 727s were purchased by the administration of Sir Rob Muldoon and used by the fourth and fifth Labour governments, as well as the administration of Jenny Shipley.
The 727s were replaced by two Boeing 757-200s in May 2003.
Modern days
 A No. 40 Squadron Boeing 757–200 in 2006 _of_No_40_Squadron_of_the_Royal_New_Zealand_Air_Force_at_Hobart_International_Airport.jpg) A 40 Squadron Hercules on a visit to Australia in 2010 |
Located at RNZAF Base Auckland on Whenuapai airfield, the Squadron today operates five C-130H Hercules and two Boeing 757-200s. The squadron saw action throughout the pacific war against Japan, and subsequently helped supply New Zealand forces fighting in Korea, Malaya, Vietnam, East Timor, Afghanistan, and Iraq as well as providing transport to United States and United Kingdom forces in the 1990 Gulf War. Humanitarian missions have included flying in the first cyclone Tracy relief supplies to Darwin, assisting victims of the Bali bombing and the Boxing Day Tsunami. Since the late 1960s the squadron has detached aircraft each summer to work in the Ross Dependency of Antarctica.
As of 2008, the Squadron began modernising its Hercules aircraft with new avionics and aircraft systems to extend their life expectancy (for NZ$234 million), and has replaced its two Boeing 727 with two Boeing 757 (for NZ$220 million).[2] In 2015 the RNZAF is now looking to replace the C-130 Hercules fleet as well as the Boeing 757's. Proposed aircraft are the C-17 Globemaster, Embraer KC-390, A-400M and the Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules.
References
- ↑
- ↑ Mateparae, Jerry (8 September 2008). "Jerry Mateparae: Can't fight? In fact we still punch above our weight". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
External links
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