GORE AERO CLUB
BUILT BY PEOPLE
WHO LOVE TO FLY.
For generations, Gore Aero Club has brought together pilots, students, aircraft owners and aviation enthusiasts from across Southland.
THE CLUB TODAY
MORE THAN A PLACE TO FLY.
Gore Aero Club is a meeting place for pilots, students, aircraft owners, aviation enthusiasts, friends and families. It's where people come to learn, fly, share adventures, talk aircraft and spend time with others who understand why looking skyward never really gets old.
The club welcomes visiting pilots and fly-in guests, while continuing to encourage new generations to experience flying for themselves.
EVERYTHING YOU NEED. RIGHT HERE.
AT GORE AERODROME
CLUBHOUSE
A dedicated clubhouse with meeting and training space, kitchen and bathroom facilities.
AIRCRAFT + HANGARS
Club aircraft and hangar facilities, alongside privately owned aircraft hangars at the aerodrome.
FUEL
On-site fuel facilities providing Avgas, Mogas and Jet-A1 via swipe-card access.
PARKING
Convenient vehicle parking at the aerodrome.
AVIATION ENGINEERING
Independent, privately owned aviation engineering services operate from Gore Aerodrome.
A PROUD FLYING HISTORY.
OUR STORY
Gore Aero Club's roots stretch back to the Gore Flight of the Southland Aero Club, which was operating from Knapdale by the 1950s. From those early days, the club has evolved through different airfields, aircraft and generations of pilots while continuing to do what it has always done — bring people together through aviation.
Southern Districts Aero Club was formally established in 1961, beginning the next chapter of a flying community that continues at Gore today.
FROM KNAPDALE TO McNAB
The Gore Flight of the Southland Aero Club was originally based at an airfield at Knapdale, with 35 active pilots. When the lease was not renewed in 1958, the Gore Flight relocated to an airstrip on the McNab property of Bill Cunningham, who became an important figure in the club's early years.
Flying instruction was carried out in Auster Aiglet ZK-AYU and DH.82 Tiger Moth ZK-BFM, alongside locally owned Tiger Moth ZK-BRC. Bill Cunningham and Gore timber merchant Les Carroll had purchased BRC directly from the Royal New Zealand Air Force. It was later owned by John Hargest of Pyramid, who had learned to fly in the aircraft.
Conditions at McNab were fairly basic. Aircraft were initially picketed outside on the exposed airstrip until members built a hangar and acquired a hut that served as an office, briefing room, meeting place, social room and shelter when the weather prevented flying.
Local topdressing pilots Ian Ritchie, Sean Fitzgerald and Jerry Kluck provided instruction, and membership grew to 74 students and pilots.
1961 — SOUTHERN DISTRICTS AERO CLUB
In 1961, Southern Districts Aero Club was formed, based at McNab with outfields at Balfour, Roxburgh and Heriot.
Roy Buchanan was President, Roy Cunningham Club Captain, and former Gore paper boy and RAF pilot Lew Day became Chief Flying Instructor, assisted by Gore Flight-trained Russell Gutschlag. Membership reached 94.
During the following years, instructors trained students at Balfour/Mossburn, Queenstown, Roxburgh, Heriot and Balclutha, as well as McNab. The club subsequently moved to Charlton, and by 1965 membership had grown to 149.
By then, the club's aircraft included Victa 100 ZK-CDM, Cessna 172 ZK-CCJ and Mooney ZK-CKF.
THE CLUB KEEPS GROWING
In 1966, Murray Pope became Chief Flying Instructor, assisted by Charlie Hayworth. Membership climbed to 182, with flying instruction extending to Te Anau, Queenstown, Wānaka and Roxburgh.
By 1967–68, Murray Pope was assisted by Malcolm Price and Garth Stewart, with Ross Ritchie serving as an Honorary Instructor.
Membership reached 201.
