What’s been happening at Flight Structures?
Aviation Industry of NZ Conference & Field Air Engineering Aviation Mentorship Award
In September Jon and Sally Kerr were proud to receive this award at the Aviation Industry Association Gala Dinner. The award was achieved to acknowledge Flight Structures commitment to providing internships and graduate opportunities for professional engineers, and the contribution made to the industry. We have provided a start for 53 brand new aviation professionals either as interns or in their first job outside university. Many of these engineers have gone on to have successful careers either with Flight Structures or elsewhere in industry. It’s not always easy to get a start and we are proud of our team and the culture we have developed.
Thanks to Fieldair for sponsoring this award.
In addition Jon spoke about the intersection of Safety and Compliance as a guest presenter in the conference. This is a topic of interest to our organisation and was well received by the industry attending.
Aerospace NZ Summit in Otautahi
Sally Kerr, James Voss and Brandon Fletcher attended the Aerospace NZ Summit in October, exhibiting on the Merlin Stand with Beca Applied Technologies. It is always good to be in a positive room where companies and organisations are making a difference employing clever people doing clever things!! Our team enjoyed catching up with alumni who are doing their own wonderful things, hearing Minister Collins give an update on progress made over the last year, and being part of the aerospace ecosystem and conversation.
Royal Aeronautical Engineering Society Symposium
Maxine Ellender and Jamie Simmons attended the 2025 event in the Parliament Buildings in Wellington with a theme of the future of aviation, and how aerospace will contribute to the future of New Zealand. We continue to be proud of our coordination and leadership of the Continued Professional Development for the Royal Aeronautical Engineering Society.
Aeromedical Conference Tasmania
Maxine Ellender attended the annual conference of the Aeromedical Society of Australasia in Tasmania to hear about the latest things happening in this sector, and support and see Northern Rescue Helicopter Trust present on their fuselage training tool. Staying up to date with industry developments both on the aeronautical side and the medical side is vital for this arm of our organisation, with the opportunity to see clients and suppliers such as GCH Aviation, Salus and Airbus.
University of Waikato Rocket Launch
In 2025 Flight Structures provided sponsorship towards the University of Waikato Astronautics Club. This year six students attended the Australian Universities Rocket Competition (AURC) in Australia. The highlight for the team was achieving third closest to the target Altitude out of 7 teams. What was also encouraging was that 44 beginners came through the beginner program this year, leading to the Competitive Rocketry team growing to nearly 30 students, most of whom are engineering students.
In 2026 the team will be returning to AURC with 2 rockets, one aiming for 30,000ft and one aiming for 10,000ft. It is anticipated that the competition will be larger and tougher so we look forward to seeing how they get along.
Day trips to Kerikeri
There is less glamour working in aviation than some people believe, but there are exciting opportunities that come along, and you have to seize them. Two engineers were required onsite for work with Merlin in Kerikeri, and managed to “hitch” a ride in the Merlin aircraft avoiding the traffic jams of State Highway One and Auckland, provide some solutions to the client and flew home later in the afternoon. That’s a perfect day for an aeronautical engineer.
Air NZ Beta ALIA CX300 Aircraft Visit
A large contingent of staff were excited to see the Beta ALIA CX300 up close during our visit whilst the Air NZ team were based in Hamilton as part of their testing programme. Thanks to Air NZ for showing us aircraft which has been operating as a technical demonstrator. We have enjoyed seeing it flying around locally over the past few weeks and were impressed by the smooth neat construction of the fuselage, the quiet performance and believe it’s an exciting step for aviation in New Zealand.
Projects
It has been a very busy year here. Delivery of trolleys to Lifeflight, continuation of the fitout for NRHL, Merlin project progress and an increasing number of international sales and deliveries. Watch this space for upcoming news stories!
