09/09/2026
Over the coming months, we'll be diving into the rich heritage of NZ Warbirds and New Zealand aviation, sharing the aircraft, people, and events that helped shape the organisation and community we know today.
What better place to start than with an aircraft that was there from the very beginning?
In June 1978, aviation enthusiast and future NZ Warbirds founding president Trevor Bland brought together a group of like-minded people with a vision: to preserve, restore, and fly historic military aircraft in New Zealand. At the time, the newly formed NZ Warbirds Association had just two aircraft, a Chipmunk and an Auster.
One of those early aircraft was de Havilland Chipmunk ZK-ARL, owned by founding Warbirds member Ernie Thompson. Long before the arrival of the RNZAF Harvards that would become synonymous with NZ Warbirds, aircraft like ZK-ARL helped lay the foundations for what would grow into the thriving warbird community we know today.
ZK-ARL occupies a special place in New Zealand aviation history. Imported by the de Havilland Aircraft Company, it was the first Chipmunk brought to New Zealand and was demonstrated to the Royal New Zealand Air Force as a potential trainer aircraft. The RNZAF ultimately did not adopt the type, continuing instead with its existing Tiger Moth and Harvard training fleet. Although the RNZAF never adopted the Chipmunk, ZK-ARL would go on to become part of another significant chapter in New Zealand aviation history: the birth of the NZ Warbirds movement.
Today, nearly five decades after the formation of NZ Warbirds, ZK-ARL has returned home. Recently acquired by a Warbirds member, the aircraft is once again based at Ardmore, where it can continue to be appreciated by the aviation community whose foundations it helped establish.
From those humble beginnings in 1978, with just two aircraft and a small group of passionate enthusiasts, NZ Warbirds has grown into a national organisation dedicated to preserving and operating historic aircraft for future generations. And right from the start, ZK-ARL was there.
📸 Do you have any photographs, memories, or stories of ZK-ARL? We'd love to see them in the comments.
