Australian general aviation manufacturer Gippsland Aeronautics has received US Federal Aviation Administration and European Aviation Safety Agency certification for its new GA8-TC 320 Airvan. US and European approvals follow Australian certification of the type earlier this year.
The turbocharged version of Gippsland's utility aircraft is already in operation with customers in Australia, including Bathurst, New South Wales-based Air Freight Solutions and Victorian skydiving operator The Parachute School. It is also flown in the southern Alps of New Zealand and by Mission Aviation Fellowship in the mountainous high lands of Papua New Guinea.
The manufacturer's first European customer for the turbocharged version is undergoing French registration for operation by skydive company ChuteXtrem. Deliveries to North American customers are scheduled to start early in 2010.
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© Gippsland Aeronautics |
The manufacturer says the GA8-TC 320 Airvan is an "outstanding" skydiving aircraft due to improved climb and high-altitude performance compared with the non-turbocharged version. It is powered by a turbocharged Lycoming TIO-540AH1A rated to 320hp (240kW) at 40in of manifold pressure at 2,500rpm from sea level to 5,000ft (1,530m). Above 5,000ft the engine is rated to maintain 300hp at 38in of manifold pressure at 25,000rpm. The aircraft features a Hartzell scimitar design three-blade propeller.
Gippsland has manufactured 150 GA8 Airvans in total, with nearly 100 of these exported.
The manufacturer continues to further develop the type, with design of a new 10-seat turboprop utility aircraft, the GA10, under way (Flight International, 17-23 March).
In addition, Gippsland continues to plan to return to production the 16-seat N24 Nomad, but the programme has slipped following delays in securing funding.
Gippsland purchased the certificate of type for the twin-turboprop, high-wing, short-field take-off and landing aircraft from Boeing Australia in 2008.
It plans to restart production of the aircraft with Rolls-Royce 250B17F II engines, a glass cockpit and new lightweight Hartzell propellers. Gippsland had been hoping to restart deliveries of the type in late 2010, but this has slipped to 2011.
Source: Flight International
