Some of you may have to forgive me on this post. My wife sometimes thinks I am too much into airplanes and she doesn't like it when I get together with my buddies and "talk shop". I admit, I do sometimes get a little carried away when it comes to sharing about my job and what is going on in the mission aviation community. However, today I was thinking about what to post and I thought, maybe I should share a little bit about the future of mission aviation. The biggest thing that MAF and other mission aviation organizations are looking forward to is an upgrade in aircraft. The current fleet of aircraft are mainly Cessna 206s. These planes are very good for short rough strips as well as have good payload. They are also aging and the fuel they run on is becoming more scarce in developing countries where most missions operate. A new aircraft is needed to fill the void. Many agencies are using the Cessna Caravan, which is a huge monster of a plane, but is not as capable as the 206 on the short stuff. This is where Quest aircraft comes in. They have developed an airplane called the Kodiak which is nicely suited for bush type flying. It can handle the short, rough runways, and it operates on common jet fuel. Right now this plane is going through it's FAA certification flights. As of this post they are working on spin tests. Check out their website for a little more info and lots of cool pictures of the future mission aircraft.
9 comments:
Sweet ride... I like it a lot.
Thanks!! I'm looking forward to working on them, I also like the bright yellow paint, it reminds me of my first mountain bike.
The plane looks very cool.
All of these are prop planes. Is that a more feasible propulsion for the work MAF does? Is a jet more for speed? I had thought that the jet plane totally replaced the need for props.
Jets are more for speed and high altitude. They also need longer runways, and you can't find a single engine jet (other than a fighter jet). They also cost a bunch more than a turbo prop which is some ways is like a jet engine.
Here's a link to Pratt and Whitney of Canada. The PT-6 is the engine that is on the Caravan and the Kodiak.
Brian-
Thanks for the clarifaction... I was looking at the link and I have to say...
is that really the best place for the compression turbine! Come on!
I though the picture was pretty though.
We were watching the "The High and the Mighty" and they were flying from Hawaii to San Francisco at 9000ft for 12 HOURS!
We sure have come a long way!
Whoa dude, how do I get some link love?
Sorry, Mr. Crew I'll be sure to add you to the link list. There's really nothing too special that you have to do to be on it. I would have to say that i have enjoyed reading your Ecuador trip notes and I'm glad you guys had a good trip.
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