GA8 Airvan experience

[mircan 0]

My friends here in Serbia are considering GA8 Airvan for the new jump plane on our DZ.
So far we had Cessnas 182 and Antonov-2. We often don`t have 12-13 people to fill AN-2 couple of times in a day (+ AN is expensive) and doing back-to-back loads on 182`s is very slow and major pain in the ass.
We had an offer for an airvan. So far I found that this plane is something to fill the gap between Cessnas 206 and turbines (206`s wouldn`t solve our problem, and we are too small for turbine). Those posts, although informative, were couple of years old. I`m interested does anyone have more recent experience in skydiving operations with this plane? Opinions, advice, tandem use, cost efficiency etc.
Thanks.

dudeist skydiver #42

[Adriandavies 0]

There are two or three now in the UK so why not try posting on www.ukskydiver.co.uk to see if you get a response. Peterlee, Skydive Jersey and Skydive London (?) have them. Pete Marsden who lives in the UK seems to be their importer so tracking him down would be a good move. From his website his details are... 01932 701321 [email protected]

[mircan 0]

Thanks.

* I think Pete is the person who offered it in the first place.

dudeist skydiver #42

[riggerrob 558]

I jumped a Gippsland GA8 Airvan a few years ago and concluded that it was an improvement on Cessna's 206 and 207 - mainly in terms of cabin size and door size.
An Airvan would be great for a static-line or IAD dropzone, but it does not climb any faster than a Cessna 206, so might bore your tandem instructors.

If you want a fast-climbing Airvan, you will have to wait a few more years until they perfect the diesel-engined version.

[mircan 0]

Yes, I have read your old posts, it`s been informative.
We have a good number of static-liners, and on usual load (say AN-2) we throw them out at 3k feet, and go to 10k with less people. I can imagine airvan, in that case, would climb a little faster.

Quote

it does not climb any faster than a Cessna 206, so might bore your tandem instructors.

Naah. We use small alarm clocks now. We set them on 30min, and go to sleep. Clocks wake us up when we reach the altitude.

dudeist skydiver #42

[Joellercoaster 6]

I can't comment on them from a DZO point of view, but I've jumped out of three now in different places and can't really complain. They're waaay more comfortable that a 206 and it's certainly more sociable with 7 or 8 in the back instead.

They're not exactly pretty, but who cares?

Oh and the heater is nice.

--
"I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan

"You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

[Andrewwhyte 1]

I remember the sliding door being an impediment to a speedy descent; is there a roll up rigged for them yet?

[JSBIRD 1]

I wonder what kind of performance you'd get mounting a 420shp Allison turbine engine on one?

BASE359

"Now I've settled down,
in a quiet little town,
and forgot about everything"

[mircan 0]

I can imagine that in that case the wings would not be necessary at all.
It could fly by just hanging from a propeller.

dudeist skydiver #42