The Lockheed C-130H Hercules has won the annual Aircraft of the Year poll, grabbing an astonishing 36% of votes cast.
Each year the Air Force Museum of New Zealand holds a poll to discover which aircraft in its collection is the favourite – and there are plenty to choose from.
The collection of 36 aircraft ranges from the crowd favourite Spitfire, Mustang and Skyhawk to the less easy on the eye, Avro Anson.
This year the Hercules which joined the museum’s collection in February took an early lead from the Skyhawk as soon as polls opened and it romped home.
When voting ended on 16 November the Hercules was 30 percentage points ahead of its nearest rival, the McDonnell Douglas A4-TK Skyhawk which was second with 6% of the vote.
The Bell UH-1H Iroquois, last year’s joint winner with the Bristol Freighter – was third.
The C-130H Hercules – known as Charles – arrived at the Air Force Museum of New Zealand in style in February. It was landed by a crew from No. 40 Squadron on a makeshift runway with thousands of spectators lining the perimeter fences.
It was the last operational flight of the RNZAF C-130H fleet and marked the end of an extraordinary 60 years of service.
NZ7001 was one of the first three Hercules to arrive in 1965 and gave extraordinary service for the RNZAF over six decades. It is the only Hercules to be conserved by the RNZAF.
It has been partially dismantled for conservation until an exhibition space large enough for it – and its sister aircraft the Lockheed P-3K2 Orion NZ4203 – can be built.
The Orion won the 2023 Aircraft of the Year competition and came in fourth place in this year’s competition.
The Hercules has the honour of being cover aircraft for the Air Force Museum of New Zealand’s 2026 calendar, which will be on sale in time for Christmas.
The top 12 were: Lockheed C-130H Hercules; McDonnell Douglas TA-4K Skyhawk; Bell UH-1H Iroquois; Lockheed P-3K2 Orion; Supermarine Spitfire Mk.XVIE; P-40E Curtiss Kittyhawk; Avro Anson Mk.1; Consolidated Catalina; BAC Strikemaster Mk.88; Douglas C-47B Dakota; de Havilland T.11 Vampire; and Hawker Siddeley Andover C.1.
