{"id":623379,"date":"2026-10-07T14:36:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T14:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/623379\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T14:36:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T14:36:13","slug":"us-c-17-globemaster-jets-fly-over-new-zealand-for-military-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/623379\/","title":{"rendered":"US C-17 Globemaster jets fly over New Zealand for military training"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img  alt=\"Military aircraft spotted in the skies above Albany as international training takes place across New Zealand.\" class=\"article-media__image responsively-lazy\" data-test-ui=\"article-media__image\"\/>Military aircraft spotted in the skies above Albany as international training takes place across New Zealand.<\/p>\n<p class=\"INdwqXkrxOG\" style=\"display:none\">Today, an RNZAF C-130J Hercules joined the two US aircraft for flights across the North Island.<\/p>\n<p class=\"INdwqXkrxOG\" style=\"display:none\">They departed RNZAF Base Auckland and travelled down the east coast to Base \u014chakea in Manawat\u016b, carrying out airdrops at Raumai.<\/p>\n<p class=\"INdwqXkrxOG\" style=\"display:none\">From \u014chakea, they were due to return to Auckland via the west coast.<\/p>\n<p class=\"INdwqXkrxOG\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cAwesome sight,\u201d one social media user from Coromandel said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"INdwqXkrxOG\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cIf you could just clip a bit closer to Opito Bay hills tomorrow I\u2019ll be close enough to give the pilots a wave,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n<p class=\"INdwqXkrxOG\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cThey gave me a hell of a fright when I was going over the flyover at Bayfair this morning. They were very big!\u201d a Tauranga Facebook user wrote.<\/p>\n<p class=\"INdwqXkrxOG\" style=\"display:none\">The RNZAF said the low-level flights would take place between 9am and 3pm. <\/p>\n<p><img  alt=\"Aircraft taking part in military training were captured flying above Albany on Wednesday.\" class=\"article-media__image responsively-lazy\" data-test-ui=\"article-media__image\"\/>Aircraft taking part in military training were captured flying above Albany on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"INdwqXkrxOG\" style=\"display:none\">A similar flight involving the two aircraft is planned for tomorrow, including further airdrops at Raumai.<\/p>\n<p class=\"INdwqXkrxOG\" style=\"display:none\">On Friday and Saturday, one C-17 is expected to fly at high altitude down the west coast of the South Island, through Milford Sound and Lake Te Anau and over Queenstown.<\/p>\n<p class=\"INdwqXkrxOG\" style=\"display:none\">It will then head north over the Southern Alps and turn west at Nelson before returning to Auckland.<\/p>\n<p class=\"INdwqXkrxOG\" style=\"display:none\">Both C-17s are scheduled to fly from Auckland to Base \u014chakea on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"INdwqXkrxOG\" style=\"display:none\">The RNZAF said the programme was weather-dependent and could change at short notice.<\/p>\n<p><img  alt=\"An Australian C-17 Globemaster aircraft taxis into position. Photo \/ Australian Defence\" class=\"article-media__image responsively-lazy\" data-test-ui=\"article-media__image\"\/>An Australian C-17 Globemaster aircraft taxis into position. Photo \/ Australian Defence<\/p>\n<p>What is a C-17 Globemaster?<\/p>\n<p class=\"INdwqXkrxOG\" style=\"display:none\">The C-17 is a four-engine military transport jet designed to carry troops, heavy equipment and supplies over long distances, according to Boeing\u2019s website.<\/p>\n<p class=\"INdwqXkrxOG\" style=\"display:none\">At 53m long with a wingspan of almost 52m, the aircraft can carry nearly 75 tonnes of cargo.<\/p>\n<p class=\"INdwqXkrxOG\" style=\"display:none\">Despite its size, it is designed to operate from short and basic airfields and can be refuelled while airborne.<\/p>\n<p class=\"INdwqXkrxOG\" style=\"display:none\">The aircraft are used for military operations and humanitarian and disaster-relief missions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Military aircraft spotted in the skies above Albany as international training takes place across New Zealand. Today, an&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":623380,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[306563,2679,17628,2082,5760,306564,42,1019,33843,15399,647,117,43,17286,1523,5202,40,38,41,39,8812,3040,80],"class_list":["post-623379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-c17","tag-fly","tag-flying","tag-for","tag-force","tag-globemaster","tag-headlines","tag-international","tag-jets","tag-massive","tag-military","tag-new","tag-news","tag-operation","tag-over","tag-part","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-training","tag-us","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=623379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/623380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=623379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=623379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=623379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}