RNZAF surprise helicopter landing a welcome treat for Whanganui school children

An RNZAF helicopter in the sky above Whanganui Intermediate School as its crew prepared to land for a surprise visit. Photo / Bevan Conley

A noisy helicopter engine could not drown out the sound of more than 500 excited young voices as the aircraft landed in the Whanganui Intermediate School (WIS) grounds on Wednesday.

The Augusta Westland A109 RNZAF helicopter crew flew from the Ohakea base to give the children a treat and teacher Nicki Hennessy said the visit had been kept under wraps.

"We had a visit two years ago when a parent who was in the air force arranged it and I have always wanted to see if we could make it happen again," she said.

"I have been making calls for the past six months to arrange it."

The helicopter crew included RNZAF maintenance coordinator Don Adshead whose daughter Zoe Anderson is a teacher at WIS.

"It is nice to come to visit my daughter as well as talk to the kids because they always have a great number of questions," Adshead said.

"It takes a bit of arranging and has to be cleared by central administration but it is well worth the effort because it inspires young people who may become future air force personnel."

The crew showed groups of children through the aircraft and they were impressed with what they saw.

"It is something you don't get to see every day," Harry Burroughs said.

Keira Brennan thought it was an amazing experience and pronounced it "cool".

"I have always wanted to fly," Annaliese Strachan said.

"I'm not sure what sort of aircraft but I really like this helicopter.

Zohair Khan said he had heard rumours that something exciting would be happening in the school grounds.

"I'm really pleased that I got to see inside and I really enjoyed having a look at the radio equipment."

Hennessy said the visit was intended to help compensate for activities that were cancelled this year.

Children had plenty of questions for the crew after the helicopter landed in their school grounds. Photo /Bevan Conley

"The children have missed out on a lot - Supersports and a number school trips have been cancelled," she said.

"This is to help make up for those but it is also a way to help them understand that the air force has been doing a lot of work to assist everyone during the Covid situation.

"It helps give them perspective and see what has been happening outside the realms of their own experience."