The Royal New Zealand Air Force is expecting to begin celebrating its 75^th anniversary with a good showing of aircraft at this month's Tauranga City Airshow.

It is planning to have the RNZAF aerobatic team, The Red Checkers, and an Iroquois helicopter flying at the airshow on Auckland Anniversary Weekend.

The RNZAF's recently upgraded C130 Hercules and a newly purchased A109 helicopter are also expected to be on static display.

RNZAF personnel will be on hand to show people through these two aircraft.

Tauranga based New Zealand Defence Force recruiter, Staff Sergeant Erin Te Kani, has also booked the NZDF recruiting bus for the airshow.

She says this includes many displays and interactive activities for potential recruits to check out.

Erin will have a team of recruiters available to answer any questions regarding careers in the NZ Army, RNZAF or RNZ Navy.

April 1 is the RNZAF's 75^th anniversary and there is a busy schedule of public events planned for the first quarter of 2012 to celebrate the milestone.

The first of these is at the ‘Classics of the Sky' Tauranga City Airshow, on January 28-29, and the last is on ANZAC Day, April 25.

RNZAF Wing Commander and airshow director Bill Blaikie says the celebrations are about giving the public an opportunity to share in the success of the air force.

'Seventy-five years of providing safe and effective military air operations for New Zealand is really an opportunity for us to celebrate with personnel, supporters of the service – especially ex-RNZAF personnel – the Defence Force, the wider defence community, the government, our general public and the international military aviation community.”

The RNZAF is using its celebrations to showcase its staff and capabilities to the public as well as to demonstrate its commitment to its mission: ‘New Zealand's Air Force: ready, resilient and respected'.

For more information on the RNZAF's 75^th anniversary celebrations visit www.airforce.mil.nz/operations/