Fleet Change

Within the next year MAF PNG will undergo a major change in its fleet. The three aircraft types (Twin Otter, Airvan, Caravan) operated in PNG have become a challenge to man and maintain efficiently. Thus, at the beginning of this year it was decided to phase out the Airvan and the Twin Otter in order to move to an all Caravan fleet. Find below the press release for the first step towards this goal, the purchase of new aircraft:

Textron Aviation Inc. and Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) International are pleased to announce the order of five Cessna Caravan 208 turboprops for its operations in Papua New Guinea (PNG), with the option for purchasing an additional two aircraft. This is the single largest aircraft investment by MAF International in its history. The five aircraft are scheduled to be delivered from Textron Aviation before the end of this year and are expected to be operational in PNG by mid-2019.
Since 1951 MAF has been serving the most isolated communities in PNG to bring physical and spiritual relief. MAF enables thousands of aid workers, long-term development specialists, mission workers, doctors and nurses, teachers and water engineers to deliver food, medical supplies and relief, water and education to those living in the most remote areas.
During the last decade, MAF has slowly been expanding the operations of the Cessna Caravan; it is now used to operate into 95 percent of the more than 230 remote bush airstrips—many of which are positioned on mountain ridgelines. With the purchase of the five Caravan turboprops, MAF adds to its existing fleet of three in PNG, transitioning to a single fleet consisting exclusively of Caravan aircraft.
Aviation Director for MAF International, William Nicol said, “With an all-Caravan fleet powered by the dependable PT6 engine, significant gains in reliability and mission impact will be achieved. The Caravan provides the capability that ensures an effective, efficient and sustainable operation—a critical consideration when operating with limited infrastructure in challenging conditions, where remote access often becomes a matter of life and death.’
“MAF’s choice to expand its fleet with the Caravan is a testament to the reliability, value and superb performance abilities of the aircraft,” said Jessica Pruss, president, Asia Pacific sales, and marketing at Textron Aviation. “We are delighted to continue supporting MAF with the Caravan, an aircraft the organization can depend on to efficiently accomplish its missions.’
PNG is home to an incredible diversity of tribal groups, with more than 800 different languages and a vast array of local cultures, customs and beliefs. Of the population, 85 percent live in rural areas, relying on subsistence agriculture for survival. With no countrywide road network, overland travel is often lengthy, exhausting and dangerous. The only way most communities can reach the outside world, or be reached by others, is by trekking long distances, often for several days at a time. Effectively “locked” behind seemingly impenetrable jungles, mountains and/or swamps, communities have little or no access to basic healthcare and education; their ability to develop and engage with the wider economy and improve their own standard of living is extremely limited. Access to an air service provides options and opportunities to change these circumstances. MAF’s new Caravan turboprops are a means through which hope and development can be provided for these isolated men, women and children.

Cessna Caravan C208 during take-off in Mougulu

Earthquake Relief Efforts

Last Saturday was my first involvement with the Relief Efforts for the earthquake strikes area. With the Twin Otter we flew about 4.5 tonnes of of supplies to Mougulu a village close to the epicentre that still has an operational airstrip. From there the goods were flown to remote villages by helicopter.

Below is an article published by MAF PNG about some of the work done last week:

Click here to read the story as PDF

The landslides caused a lot of freshwater sources to be
contaminated - unloading bottled water at Fuma

Earthquake in PNG

On Feb 25th a 7.5 earthquake hit Papua New Guinea in the Komo area. It was the strongest we have experienced since our arrival in 2011. In fact, it was so strong that I was on the way out of the 2-storey building I was sleeping in, when it finally stopped. Madeleine and the kids were on their own in Telefomin. Our house lost a header tank (water tank on the roof to provide water pressure), and they were without water for a day. Other than that, we were spared any damage or loss of life.
In Komo and the surrounding area it is a different story, however. Over the past few years a lot of effort has gone into that region as a plant for Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) has been build. With it came sealed roads, improved infrastructure, and an airport. Most of that is to some degree damaged now, and while it mostly effects the people operating the gas plant and the people living in the town of Tari (population approx 8000), it will have a long-term impact on the growing economy.
As the rural Papua New Guinean has no car, no electricity, no running water, and a house build with material found in the bush the earthquake had little impact on their general existence. However, land slides triggered by the shaking ground covered gardens and streams, thus limiting food and water supply in some areas. It is also not clear yet, if and how many houses and people were covered by the sliding masses of earth.

"MAF is currently involved in a coordinated effort with other groups to provide earthquake relief and medical evacuations. Please see the attached story for more information and read about the first people who have been medevaced to Mt Hagen hospital."

Here the full story as released by MAF PNG:

Click here to read the story as PDF

Ridge broken away close to houses [©MAF PNG]

Badly broken road
[©Hides Gas Facebook]

Landslides to the North and South of epicentre
[©Bernard J McQueen Facebook]

DHC6 Twin Otter – A True Canadian

Flying the Twin Otter has been a new and very unique experience. For one thing, this is the first twin aircraft I fly commercially. Even though I did do a multi-engine rating during our time at Prairie School of Mission Aviation, I have not flown an airplane with two engines since. For another thing, the Twin Otter is a turbo-prop aircraft, and, obviously, a turbine is not quite the same to handle as the piston engine I am familiar with. And lastly, the DHC6 is much bigger having about four times the capacity of the Airvan, the little piston plane I flew up to now.
The Twin Otter was built to fly in the rugged environment of the Canadian North and, thus, is very suitable for PNG. With its STOL (Short Take-off and Landing) capabilities it lands comfortably on strips of 1300ft length and 12% slope. Therefore, it is able to go to places the Airvan could not, while still taking a full load in and out. Because of its big cabin it can not only take more, but also a different kind of cargo. Large iron roofing sheets, wood panelling and metal stilts for houses, water tanks, bags of cement, rolls of fencing, portable saw mill, and especially around Goroka, bags of green coffee beans.

Bags of green coffee beans awaiting their transport to a roastery

Iron roofing sheets out - coffee bags in

Heavy lifting: each coffee bag weighs 50kg - we can take about 36