GA8 Turbo with pilot Nick Swalm in PNG

The brand new 8-seat aircraft left Mareeba bound for PNG on April 21 following a ferry flight up from Victoria. MAF took delivery of the plane in February but the actual handover was delayed by certification approvals and modifications.

By all outward appearances, the turbo-charged (TC) Airvan is identical to its normally aspirated cousins, 11 of which are currently operating with MAF in the PNG lowlands, Arnhem Land, Cambodia and East Timor.

The big – or little – difference only becomes apparent when the engine cowling is removed to reveal the addition of a TC converter about the size of a 2-litre soft drink bottle tucked away neatly and almost out of sight. But big things can often be achieved by small objects. That small device will allow PNG pilots to soar with ease over mountain ranges and greatly reduce flight times between highlands airstrips. It will give them additional power for rapid climbing through breaks in the cloud.

Aviation Resources Manager, Stephen Charlesworth, explains that it is all about the ability of the TC Airvan to convert or compress – via the turbo-charger – the thinner air taken into the engine at altitude.  ”To date, (non-TC) Airvans have been particularly useful in the lowlands of PNG, Indonesia, Cambodia and East Timor where MAF has a number of Airvans operating,” he said.

GA8 Turbo Airvan in flight, PNG Highlands

“But they have been less successful in the PNG highlands. As you go higher, air pressure reduces and the air is less dense. Therefore, the higher the altitude, the less power becomes available to a normally aspirated aircraft. There is less energy for the engine to burn. ”The turbo-charger or compressor overcomes that problem by compressing the air prior to it entering the engine enabling more power for greater rates of climb. As a result, the aircraft is better able to move from valley to valley in the PNG highlands.”

Mr Charlesworth said the new Airvan would readily climb to heights of 10,000 feet and above, had a greater load-carrying capacity than the Cessna 206 and required less maintenance. The Airvan GA8-TC 320 is powered by a Lycoming turbo-charged fuel injection engine turning a Hartzell three-blade propeller.

Worldwide, 135 of the Victorian-manufactured Airvans are flying in 32 countries. MAF has the second largest fleet of Airvans after the USAF Civil Air Patrol.

MAF Australia – www.maf.org.au