improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . june 2008 learn how and when to remove this template message this article may require cleanup to meet wikipedia s quality standards . no cleanup reason has been specified . please help improve this article if you can . june 2008 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message gippsaero industry aerospace founded 1977 1977 headquarters latrobe valley airport morwell victoria australia products aircraft parent mahindra aerospace website gippsaero.com gippsaero formerly gippsland aeronautics is an australian aircraft manufacturer based at latrobe valley airport in morwell victoria . the company builds single engined utility aircraft . these include the multi role ga8 airvan and the agricultural ga200 fatman . the company has been majority owned by indian conglomerate mahindra group since 2009 . contents 1 history 2 aircraft 2.1 ga200 fatman 2.2 ga8 airvan 2.3 developments and future products 3 timeline for gippsaero 4 products 5 references 6 external links history edit gippsland aeronautics was founded by peter furlong and george morgan . the company started operations at the latrobe regional airport in morwell in the 1970s as an aircraft maintenance and modification business working for large organisations such as the national safety council of australia and esso australia as well as local commercial operators . during the late 1960s and early 1970s peter furlong and john brown were pilots builders fabricators and maintenance personnel for amongst others the latrobe valley aircraft club and the ultra light club of australia . the late john brownie brown was a builder of timber aircraft . brownie was involved with the second airframe of the australian designed corby starlet in the mid 1960s . he later built the first australian example of the volmer sportsman amphibian aircraft vh tub . brownie and pete continued to service aircraft together until the mid 1980s when brownie was diagnosed with cancer . aircraft edit ga200 fatman edit the modification of agricultural aircraft to improve capability and safety marked the beginnings of gippsland aeronautics aircraft design and manufacturing business as it stands today . the company increasingly modified five agricultural piper pa 25 pawnees in the mid 1980s to the point where it was decided to certify a new design . in 1991 gippsland aeronautics first indigenous design the ga200 fatman achieved australian airworthiness certification . the certified production ga200 fatman also referred to unofficially as the ga200b had a lifting capacity of 800 litres with a 250 hp engine . in 1993 the company certified a new model the ga200c fatman with the capability of lifting one tonne 1050 litres with a 300 hp engine giving the aircraft a 30 50 % better performance than any aircraft in its class . citation needed in the late 1990s fatman production was scaled down to make way for the airvan . ga8 airvan edit a us civil air patrol ga8 airvan on takeoff from west houston airport during a mission following hurricane rita in 2005 . despite the success of the fatman variants profitability was too dependent on the roller coaster cycles of the agricultural industry world wide . subsequently gippsland aeronautics second new design the ga8 airvan was conceived by directors designers furlong and morgan as a utility transport to replace the cessna 206 207 and dhc beaver . recognising the cessna 206 as one of the world s best workhorses the pair saw the potential niche market for a piston engine aircraft that could carry more passengers . this would improve the operators profitability without going to the expense of purchasing a turbine powered aircraft . thus the high wing eight seat ga8 airvan was born using the design of the ga200c as a basis . certification commenced in 1993 with the building of the first prototype proof of concept aircraft . after eight years in development the ga8 airvan was type certificated by the australian civil aviation safety authority to far 23 amendment 48 requirements in december 2000 and subsequently updated to amendment 54 status in early 2003 . this was followed by certification by the united states federal aviation administration and the canadian transport canada in the same year . the european aviation safety agency easa certificated the airvan in 2005 . the ga8 airvan has now achieved export sales in the uk holland germany indonesia new zealand south africa botswana mozambique lesotho usa canada and belize in central america in addition to in country sales in western australia queensland victoria south australia and the northern territory . in october 2006 gippsland aeronautics announced that the turbocharged prototype aircraft has commenced flight testing . the chosen engine is the lycoming tio 540 ah1a engine which is a turbocharged version of the currently installed normally aspirated engine . citation needed developments and future products edit on 18 june 2008 gippsland aeronautics announced it had won bidding to take over the type certificate of the gaf nomad and would probably be restarting production . 1 the twin engined 18 seat reborn nomad will be called the ga18 and will be re engineered with new engines propellers glass cockpit and weight saving measures . 2 it is planned to bring it into service after the development and certification of the new 10 seat ga10 . in december 2009 mahindra aerospace pvt. ltd. mapl belonging to mahindra group of india acquired a 75.1 % majority stake . 3 in march 2011 at the 2011 australian international airshow gippsaero announced the ga10 . a development of the 8 seat ga8 airvan piston engined aircraft the ga10 design has been stretched and re engined with a turboprop engine to increase seating and payload capacity . 4 it is planned for its first flight to take place in october 2011 and be ready for service in march 2013 . timeline for gippsaero edit this section contains embedded lists that may be better presented using prose . you can help by converting the list or lists to prose if appropriate . editing help is available . june 2008 learn how and when to remove this template message 1977 peter furlong starts gippsland aeronautics as an aircraft maintenance and modification business . 1984 george morgan joins peter furlong to form gippsland aeronautics pty ltd as an incorporated entity 1985 to 1991 gippsland aeronautics develops the ga200 agricultural aircraft following approaches by local aircraft operators to design an agricultural aircraft with better lifting and handling capabilities than other available aircraft . 1991 the ga200c fatman is type certificated by the australian civil aviation authority . 1993 the company commences design work on a new aircraft designated the ga8 that will fill a market niche between the six seater cessna 206 and the ten seater cessna caravan . 1995 the proof of concept ga8 airvan makes its first flight in march 1995 and attends the australian international airshow at avalon . 1996 the prototype ga8 airvan makes its first flight august 1996 . the airvan then undergoes a major flight testing and development program . 2000 australian civil aviation safety authority certificates the ga8 airvan to far 23 amendment 48 . 2001 in december the first export airvan is delivered to maya island air in belize central america . 2002 the us civil air patrol appoints gippsland aeronautics to supply airvans making the cap the first american organisation to own and fly the airvan and the largest fleet owner of the australian ga8 worldwide . 2003 airvan gains type certification in canada with avalon aircraft corporation of richmond b.c appointed as the canadian representative then us faa grants type certification . 2004 first airvan is delivered to a canadian operator wings over wilderness . cargo pod for airvan certified by australian civil aviation authority . 2005 the european aviation safety agency easa certifies the ga8 airvan . 2005 gippsland aeronautics airvan airframe 100 rolled out in september 2006 . the completion of 100 airvans is considered to be a significant milestone in australian aircraft manufacturing . only two other manufacturers of australian civil aircraft have built more than 100 aircraft in the post ww2 era . the others being the victa airtourer 168 and the government aircraft factories gaf with 170 twin engined n22 & n24 nomads . citation needed 2007 february gippsland aeronautics has built 110 ga8 airvans and 50 ga200 fatmans . citation needed 2009 december mahindra aerospace pvt. ltd. mapl belonging to mahindra group of india buys 75.1 % majority stake . 3 2012 may ga10 first flight products edit gippsland ga200 gippsland ga8 airvan gippsland ga10 airvan gippsland ga18 references edit nomad is set to soar once again . theage.com.au . 2008 06 18 . retrieved 2011 02 15 . kelly emma 3 august 2010 . gippsland preparing for g18 market entry within two years . flight global . retrieved 9 july 2011 . a b mahindra buys major stake in australian firms . the hindu . 16 december 2009 . retrieved 28 june 2010 . a b gippsaero s ga10 project on track . australian flying . 3 march 2011 . retrieved 9 july 2011 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to gippsland aeronautics . official website v t e mahindra group divisions and subsidiaries india based mahindra epc mahindra ugine steel tech mahindra mahindra & mahindra mahindra gujarat mahindra tractors mahindra truck and bus reva mahindra holidays & resorts mahindra aerospace mahindra & mahindra financial services limited other ssangyong motor company jiangling tractors gippsaero other anand mahindra kailash chandra mahindra mahindra united world college of india category retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title gippsaero & oldid 739697447 categories aircraft manufacturers of australiamahindra group1977 establishments in australiacompanies established in 1977hidden categories articles needing additional references from june 2008all articles needing additional referencesarticles needing cleanup from june 2008all articles needing cleanupcleanup tagged articles without a reason field from june 2008wikipedia pages needing cleanup from june 2008all articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from july 2008all pages needing cleanuparticles with sections that need to be turned into prose from june 2008commons category with local link same as on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to 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