Gippsland Aeronautics
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Gippsland Aeronautics is an Australian airplane manufacturer based in Morwell, Victoria. The company builds utilitarian single-engined airplanes. These include the GA8 Airvan and the GA200C Fatman.
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[edit] History
Gippsland Aeronautics, founded by Peter Furlong and George Morgan, has a long-established reputation in the aeronautical industry in Australia. The company started operations at the Latrobe Regional Airport in Morwell in the 1970s as an aircraft maintenance and modification business working for large organisations such as the National Safety Council and Esso, as well as local commercial operators.
[edit] The First Design - The GA200 Fatman
The modification of agricultural aircraft to improve capability and safety marked the beginnings of Gippsland Aeronautics aircraft design and manufacturing business as it stands today. The company increasingly modified nine agricultural aircraft (mainly the Piper Pawnee) to the point where it was decided to certify the new design. Gippsland Aeronautics first indigenous design, the GA200 Fatman, achieved Australian CAA certification airworthiness standards in 1991.
Gippsland Aeronautics continued to provide a maintenance facility for local aircraft in '92, and started a small manufacturing line for the GA200. In 1993, the company recertified a new model, the GA200C with the capability of lifting one tonne on 300HP, giving the aircraft a 30-50% better performance than any aircraft in its class.
To date, 45 GA200 Fatman aircraft have been manufactured in the Latrobe Valley, 28 of which have been exported to countries throughout the world including China, New Zealand, USA, Canada, Brazil and South Africa.
In the late 1990's, GA200 Fatman production was scaled down as Gippsland Aeronautics had something else in the wings... (sorry lol)
[edit] Rapid Growth with the GA8 Airvan
Despite the success of the GA200 Fatman varients, profitability was too dependent on the roller coaster cycles of the agricultural industry world wide. Subsequently, Gippsland Aeronautics second new design, the GA8 Airvan, was conceived by directors/designers, Furlong & Morgan as a utility transport to replace the Cessna 206/207 and DHC Beaver.
Recognising the Cessna 206 as ‘one of the world’s best workhorses’, the visionary pair saw the potential niche market for a piston powered aircraft that could carry more passengers. This would improve the operators’ profitability without going to the expense of purchasing a turbine powered aircraft, clearly beyond the reach of most small operators.
Thus the high wing, eight seat GA8 Airvan was born using the design of the GA200C as a basis. Certification commenced in 1993 with the building of the first prototype/proof of concept aircraft. After eight years in development, the Airvan was type certificated by the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority to FAR 23 Ammenment 48 requirements in December 2000 and subsequently updated to Ammenment 54 status in early 2003. This was followed by certication by the US FAA and Transport Canada.
The GA8 has already achieved export sales in Indonesia, New Zealand, South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, Lesotho, USA, Canada and Belize in Central America, in addition to in-country sales in Western Australia, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and the Northern Territory.
[edit] Customers
Customers include the United States Civil Air Patrol, which utilizes their Airvan in their Search and Rescue operations.
