With over 200 of its eight-place Airvans in operation worldwide, primarily in the back country, GippsAero came to Sun n Fun ready to target the owner-flown market in the U.S. by offering an up-market, more comfortable interior. AVwebs Rick Durden sat down with Earle Boyter, Director of Business Development for the Americas, for a podcast about the Airvan. The airplane has long been known for its design that allows quickly installing or removing the seats to allow carrying a combination of passengers and cargo. Boyter pointed out that the Airvan was also known for the utilitarian design of the interior, an asset in the bush, but something that did not endear it to potential buyers whose families had outgrown their Cessna 182 and wanted something that could carry more with the same performance.
By combining more comfortable seats with the ability to position them for maximum legroom and have as many as eight in a cabin larger than the Cessna 206-and with a greater useful load-GippsAero hopes to increase its sales in the U.S. According to Boyter, full-fuel payload of the passenger-friendly GA8 is over 1000 pounds.
