MOTAT Aviation Hall — Attraction in Waitematā

We came to this museum to see airplanes. Too bad it was so dark. You couldn’t see crap. Had to get my phone out and turn the light on just to read the info plaques. Somebody thought it was chic to turn all the lights down and have a movie playing, projected on the sides of the big beautiful sea planes, which then of course you couldn’t see because of the movie projected on them. The movie was about 30 minutes, mostly trying to weave Māori stuff into everything aviation, like the New Zealanders seem to do with everything now because I guess they are trying to make up for centuries of abuse, and the movie finished just as we were leaving (they should do what other places do and have a separate room to show the movie that people can watch if they want). Couldn’t take any decent pictures. Also it really would have been nice to get to go inside one of the big seaplanes like most good aviation museums do. Overall mostly a waste of time and money.

Response to Owner’s response: I’m sure they give awards to anything woke nowadays. And the movie ended just as we were leaving (pretty sure it was longer than 12 minutes since it was on the whole time we were there) - when it ended, it was still...

Upon entering the hangar, visitors are greeted by a diverse array of aircraft, each with its own story to tell. However, one notable aspect that may detract from the experience is the close proximity of the aircraft to one another. The confined spacing can make it challenging to fully appreciate each piece individually, as they seem to blend together in a crowded display. Additionally, the lighting probably aimed to give a certain atmosphere, is insufficient to fully illuminate the aircraft, making it difficult to capture high-quality photographs of the remarkable pieces.

I would have liked the possibility to explore at least one of the interiors of the bigger planes.

Despite the spatial constraints and lighting issues, the Auckland Motat Aviation Hall offers an interesting collection of aircraft in really...

Wonderful place! Highly recommend 👌 I loved the trams and of course the planes! The experience in the Hangar was awesome!

I'm from Wellington but I have lived in auckland for 2.5 years and have been meaning to go for such a long time and I'm so glad I finally did. My grandfather used to be an aviation engineer (among other things). He worked on those planes fixing them. He would have been a WW2 pilot had he not been rejected for having 6 toes! They regarded 6 toes as a disability back then. Crazy. Made me very sad for my pops because he was passionate about aviation and flying planes 😢 I thought of him alot while there, about his passion and heartbreak over the rejection, and also about my mother as a little girl who often accompanied him to MOTAT in the 50s!...