RNZAF Base Ohakea - 1930s Development

1930s Development

In 1935 the Labour government committed to an expansion of the military air service at the expense of the navy, seeing this as a way of reducing the total defence vote. At the end of 1935 the government accepted an air service expansion plan developed by RAF Wing Commander Ralph Cochrane.

The plan called for several new bases, with a major development at Ohakea, which would be home to 30 Wellington bombers on order for the RNZAF. Two large hangars (now hangars 2 and 3) were authorised to house the aircraft, to be designed by the Department of Public Works chief design engineer Charles Turner. Turner decided to build the hangars as monolithic reinforced concrete structures because structural steel could not be obtained in sufficient quantities without delays, while concrete and reinforcing steel could be delivered immediately. The same limitation forced Turner to adopt concrete doors. The arched hangars spanned 61 metres, with a height of 18 metres. The expense of the steel centering was spread across four hangars, as another two similar structures were ordered for Whenuapai air base in Auckland. The two Ohakea hangars were completed in 1939, at a cost of about £76,750 each.

Ultimately, the Wellington bombers for which the hangars were built never arrived, as they were donated to Britain at the start of the second world war. However, the hangars have been in continuous use since their construction, and (re-roofed in steel) remain in use today.