2023 Aircraft Maintenance Competition
Visit us at the Air Force Museum of New Zealand on 3 and 4 November to experience what happens when vocational education and competition come together.
This year our skill competition focus has been on our WorldSkills National Aircraft Competition and partnering with two industry association exisiting competitions: The Master Electricians Challenge competition series and the Institute of Refrigeration Heating & Air Conditioning Engineers of New Zealand Inc (IRHACE) Wallie Askew Workskills Competition. For 2024 we are aiming to send a small New Zealand contingent to the WorldSkills International competition in France.
The last skill competition of 2023 is our WorldSkills New Zealand Aircraft Maintenance Competition – a shining light of WorldSkills New Zealand and industry collaboration.
Our National Aircraft Maintenance Competition will take place at the Air Force Museum of New Zealand at Wigram, Christchurch, on 3–4 November.
This is a free public event, Schools, whānau and industry groups are welcome to attend (public opening times) on Friday and Saturday.
[Picture] Aircraft engineers and engineers-in-training stand in front of a Mitsubishi MU2 training aircraft for the WorldSkills NZ 2023 national selection competition briefing at the RNZAF Technical Training School at Woodbourne in Blenheim.
Our New Zealand Aircraft Maintenance Competitions are intense high-energy events.
They are avenues for:
- Skill promotion and recruitment
- Industry-specific skill development
- Industry benchmarking
- Resilient sector-building.
[Picture] Teone Wilkinson from No 6 Squadron RNZAF riveting together pieces of his aircraft structure repair module at the WorldSkills NZ national selection competition, RNZAF Woodbourne 2023
Introducing our ten competitors for the 2023 National WorldSkills New Zealand Aircraft Maintenance Competition:
- Ben Lewis (20) AirNZ Christchurch
- Elliott Farnan (20) AirNZ Auckland
- Jack Elvy (22) AirNZ Christchurch
- Kaleb Bentham (21) AirNZ Auckland
- Lewis Alley (20) AirNZ Auckland
- Michael Hey (24) Airbus Woodbourne
- Ross Brodie (23) AirNZ Christchurch
- Samuel Munday (22) Sqn 6 Whenuapai air base, RNZAF
- Teone Wilkinson (24) Sqn 6 Whenuapai air base, RNZAF
- Tim Duncan (21), HeliSupport NZ, Wanaka
See our news tab for competitor bios.
Our competitions require a consistent high calibre of testing and judging. Modules are designed by our WorldSkills Aircraft Maintenance Skill Manager Michael Naus to meet NZ industry and international competition standards. Aircraft Maintenance Competition modules are authentic simulations of real-world activity. They demand technical expertise, attention to detail, decision-making and the ability to work under pressure.
Our competitors are young engineers and engineers-in-training. In preparation for competition, each must hone hard technical skills and soft skills. In recent years, many age-eligible Aircraft Maintenance national winners have gone on to compete and excel on the international stage.
New Zealand’s skills success is not just seen on the international podium. These competitions bring together experience and perspective. Competitors, supporters, industry and trainers come from provincial and urban centres and work across civilian organisations as well as the armed forces. Aircraft engineers and aircraft engineers-in-training from RNZAF, Air NZ, Airbus and general aviation attend. Our judges are practising engineers and engineering trainers from Airbus NZ, RNZAF, Air NZ and Te Pukenga (NMIT and Service IQ).
Find out more about supporting WorldSkills New Zealand events.