Does anyone have any information regarding these planes? I'm interested in the the good, bad and the Ugly.

http://www.gippsaero.com/aircraft/ga8-airvan.aspx

I have about 30 hours PIC in the NA GA8 (no time in TC) and much more than that as a back seater, all of it with Civil Air Patrol. Its not fun to fly.

The seats are TERRIBLY uncomfortable. Anything over two hours and you have a problem we called "Gipps-butt." Your rear-end literally goes numb. We took to carrying along pillows to sit on for the longer flights and that helped a bit.

They're slow. 120KTAS is really the best you can hope for. All while burning about 16.5GPH in cruise.

Airflow is ok inside the cabin, better if you open the door!

The back seat is about 6' aft of CG. If you're susceptible to airsickness (I am), you're guaranteed to hurl in this seat. If the pilot is good or the turbulence isn't too bad, you can make it. If you have turbulence or a rudder happy pilot, bring BIG bags.

Handling the big beast is not too terrible. It does feel like an airline cockpit with the switches on the ceiling, big stick between your legs and big T/M/P knobs. The trim wheel is annoying to move much.

When I flew them, there were no certified autopilots so everything was hand flying. I assume that's changed, but I don't know.

The fuel feed system is a monument to Rube Goldberg. There are two tanks, a header tank, a plenum, lots of piping and a single ON/OFF control on the panel. It is supposed to feed evenly from both wing tanks to the header tank and then from the header tank to the engine. My experience was, that never happened. All too often the left tank ran almost dry (not enough to turn the fuel warning light on but close enough to E to make you nervous) before the right tank went below 3/4 full. The fuel imbalance was disconcerting at times.

Landing the thing is easy as a 172. Just remember to chop the power COMPLETELY. Any excess power and you'll chew up runway by the ton before coming down (the body of the airplane actually provides about 10% of the lift).

What's your mission?

I talked to them at Osh.
They are light with a good useful load. Slow and looks like the box it came in.
I think it ways 2200 ibs with a 4000 gw. Lycoming 300 hp NA and 310 hp turbo.
Built in Australia but owned by an India owner.
They are certifying an Airvan 10, 3 ft longer with 10 seats and RR250 turbine engine.

My mission is hauling a lot of stuff and people to the Islands. 120 kts hurts, hard to think about that. COMPAIR already had a turbine but these are similar. I'd be much more interested in a JET-A burning bird where I'm headed but I'm looking at all options including a C90.

Hard to haul much fast on 300hp.

Twinbo? Twin beech? Caravan?

Twin beech will run Mogas if that helps.

Rick

What you need is a PAC750XL. Will haul the mother load with a PT6 in front. But has looks only a mother could love. They ain't cheep either.

Not sure about the good or bad but it's got ugly down pat.

Something is up with that CompAir. Tons of them were built because the performance numbers were so good, but most of them were put on the market with very low hours after completion. They are also cheaper than what you would expect a nice flying turbine to be.

The Pac 750XL is SLOW, but darn will it jump off the ground. The skydivers just north of us will load up like a Japanese subway and break ground in just a few hundred feet, climbing like nobody's business. For the money and distance, a caravan might be a better choice.

Looks like there are some cheap Beech 18s out there right now

I've done a little research into these planes. Lots of rebuilt engines used. Also the tail dragger is the the better of the two based on what I've been told.

Rick, you are right. Nearly all of the CompAir's are built with worn out Walters engines, with a questionable "overhaul". Most of the experimentals used a derivative that us ag guys couldn't use because the FAA wouldn't certify it. I think in terms of age, those experimental Walters were about the equal of a PT6A-6 or maybe an early -20. Still, I think there must be some quirk with the airframe that makes it less than an ideal airplane.

If you get one and it turns out to be something special, let me know, I'd love a ride in one because I can certainly see the utility of a single engine turbine with the interior size of a 58.

I'm looking for a cheap load hauler. Burning Jet A is a plus. Did I mention that I need a cheap one.

The GA8 will haul. Useful load's like 1800# iirc. Another nice feature is that the seats are easily removable and store in a special slot in the tail behind the seating area. If you need to haul 5 paxs and some cargo, then drop the five paxs and pickup more cargo, it can be done in very short order.

The seats are held in by four posts which are retained by a spring and pop out with the use of a simple tool. Installation just requires you to slide the seat in and reattach the seat belt.

In aeroplanes and women, I have never been attracted to ugly!