Long standing MOTAT Aviation volunteer Frank Hannay passed away in May and was honoured by a memorial service in the MOTAT Aviation Hall on May 14th attended by many of his old MOTAT Aviation volunteer and aviation industry colleagues as well as his family and friends.
Frank joined TEAL as an apprentice aircraft electrician around 1956. TEAL became Air New Zealand in the 1960’s. On completing his apprenticeship in the early’60’s he joined the NZ National Airways Corporation.
He worked on a variety of aircraft over his time with NAC with the DC3 becoming his favourite, with the job of taxing the aircraft from the tarmac to the hangar one he particularly enjoyed. He stayed with NAC which became the domestic division of Air New Zealand for some time later moving into line maintenance which involved monitoring and servicing aircraft problems when operating passenger flights.
Frank retired from this position, and on retirement joined the Aviation Section workshop group under around 2010. This was a time when MOTAT management looked to the Section to complete the restoration of as many aircraft as possible to fill the new Aviation Museum extension before the official opening.
With only one aircraft engineer there at the time he was welcomed with open arms, and later became a great assistant to the Aviation manager and a member of the outstanding group of retired volunteers who restored the MOTAT aircraft collection. He also had a particular interest in the Air NZ 747 simulator re-activation.
By Norm McKelvey
Retired Aviation Section Manager
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