The GA8 reaches isolated communities as a school bus, a medevac service and to transport coffins for family funerals. Here’s why it’s so adaptable.
The GippsAero GA8 Airvan is an Australian-designed and built workhorse made for the dirt airstrips, bumpy weather, and tough conditions of Arnhem Land.
MAF Arnhem Land’s six GA8s fly daily missions ranging from “school bus” flights to medevacs to special charters that include domestic violence rescues and body flights.
Pilot Anton Zhang has flown GA8s for the past 4 years, and he says, “One great thing about the GA8 is that it can take off and land in a really short distance, so that means it can go into many of the remote airstrips, which are quite short, so all those airstrips where Yolngu live in the homelands. Some other planes can’t go into those strips.”
A notable feature of GA8s such as VH-MQR, is that their cabin space can be easily re-arranged, without the need for special tools, for flying a range of freight types. With the profound significance of funerals in Yolngu culture, the GA8s are often chartered to carry coffins to the homelands.
“Another good thing about the GA8 is that it's very versatile in terms of how you can configure the cabin,” Anton said. “You can easily pop the seats out and turn it into a freight plane, and we often do that when we carry bodies and coffins.”
In addition to standard click-out seats, one of MAF Arnhem Land’s GA8s, VH-MKK, has a custom-built medevac kit installed, which allows a patient on a stretcher to be lifted directly onto the plane.
Senior Pilot Philipp Techand has flown several medevac missions in the modified GA8, and he values the utility of VH-MKK for the safety and comfort of both staff and patients.
“It’s a fact that some patients can only be transported lying down,” Philipp said. “So, the medevac kit is not just for lifting onto the aircraft, but also the reclined transport itself is valuable.
“We have also done some low-acuity patient travel with this system for elderly persons flying long distances, as it was more comfortable than sitting for hours. And it was easier for them to get on the plane, of course.”
Since starting work in Arnhem Land in May 2023, VH-MKK flew a broad range of 710 passengers in 2023.
The GA8 is … very versatile in terms of how you can configure the cabin.
These small aircraft cover vast distances in their line of duty, and VH-MQR, for example, flew 470 flight legs in 2023 for a total distance of approximately 40213km, which is almost exactly the length of Earth’s circumference.
MAF’s GA8s in Arnhem Land may just be humble tools of ministry, but they work hard in a challenging environment to bring help, hope and healing to the isolated communities of Arnhem Land.
