A retired Orion has been pulled apart at Marlborough’s Base Woodbourne and will make its way to the Air Force Museum in Christchurch.

On Tuesday Airbus staff removed the fuselage and wings from the Lockheed P-3K2 Orion NZ4203, ready for transport to Wigram where it will be on public display.

A convoy of 12 vehicles including trucks with super-length trailers, normally used for house removal, was to leave at 2am on Wednesday, and would spend three days travelling mainly at night through Lewis Pass including fording streams.

Six Orions were retired earlier this year after a collective service with the air force of more than 100 years.

A fleet of four Boeing P-8A Poseidon aircraft has replaced them, continuing their work in airborne surveillance in New Zealand’s exclusive economic zone, the South Pacific, and the Southern Ocean including Antarctica.

While the Orions frequently flew out of the Marlborough air force base where heavy maintenance work was done, the replacement Poseidons are unable to land there because the runway shared with the Marlborough Airport is too short and not strong enough for the heavy jet aircraft.

The air force’s search and rescue and surveillance missions are now restricted to Wellington, Auckland and Base Ohakea, as a result.

However the Orions would still perform ceremonial fly-pasts over Marlborough on occasion, a Defence Force spokesperson said.

Dean Heiford, Marlborough Airport chief executive, said the recently retired Lockheed P-3K2 Orions had been a familiar sight in Marlborough skies.

”They were regular visitors, coming here on missions, training, and sometimes servicing.”

Marlborough was an excellent area for training pilots and navigators with generally fine weather, ocean, mountains and a commercial airport with a tower and three runways, two of them grass, Heiford said.

The Poseidons were bigger and longer than the Orions and their landing gear was not suitable for the Marlborough airstrip, he confirmed.

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Heiford said there were no plans for lengthening or strengthening the runway, unless the Defence Force required it and helped to pay for it. The heaviest aircraft landing in the region included Boeing 757s, C-130 Hercules and Boeing C17 Globemasters used for transport.

Air New Zealand Boeing 737s had landed at the airport, Heiford said, but came in light on fuel and luggage or freight.

“We can’t take the Airbus A320 that replaced them.”

The Marlborough District Council had no issues with surveillance and search and rescue aircraft no longer operating from Woodbourne as services would still be provided via Wellington, Christchurch and Ohakea.

Other military aircraft would continue to visit including Hercules, “good workhorses” which took off and landed on grass airstrips, Heiford said.

Brett Marshall, Air Force Museum director, said NZ4203 was the air force’s first Orion to land in Antarctica, in 2006. Built by Lockheed in Burbank California in 1966, it flew over 27,000 hours during 54 years of service with No. 5 Squadron at Base Whenuapai. New avionics were installed in the 1980s and new wings in the 1990s.

“It has taken part in numerous humanitarian and search and rescue missions and been a lifesaver for many people who have found themselves needing help a long way from home.”

The five remaining Orions were to be sold, subject to approval by the US State Department.

Brett Marshall, Air Force Museum director, said NZ4203 was the air force’s first Orion to land in Antarctica, in 2006. Built by Lockheed in Burbank California in 1966, it flew over 27,000 hours during 54 years of service with No. 5 Squadron at Base Whenuapai. New avionics were installed in the 1980s and new wings in the 1990s.

“It has taken part in numerous humanitarian and search and rescue missions and been a lifesaver for many people who have found themselves needing help a long way from home.”

Darren Hammond, Air Force Museum collections manager, said one pilot compared flying Orions to “hopping into a V8 muscle car”.

Air Force Museum exhibition halls were too small to house a Poseidon which was 36m long, had a wingspan just over 30m, and a 10.3m tail.

The P-3K2 Orions ended 60 years of service with a close-formation fly-past over the South Island on January 31, before landing at Base Woodbourne.

The five remaining Orions were to be sold, subject to approval by the US State Department.