The GA200C, an agricultural delivery aircraft capable of carrying 1,000 litres of material, was developed from the GA200, the first indigenous design for GippsAero. The aircraft evolved over a number of "proof of concept" prototypes, each proving successive major design innovations under all types of ‘in the field’ operating conditions. The series of prototypes amassed more than 10,000 hours of agricultural experience which was subsequently incorporated in the development of the GA200C. Full Certification of the GA200 was achieved on 1st March 1991. A Certificate of Type Approval N0. 83-6 was issued by the Australian Civil Aviation Authority which was the first to be issued for a totally new aircraft design in Australia since the Nomad, some 20 years earlier. The certification basis was the Australian design requirement CAO 101.16 & 101.22 which in turn incorporated the requirements of FAR 23. As well as operating throughout Australia, the GA200 has now been Type Certified as far as New Zealand, China, the USA, Canada, South Africa and Brazil. The GA200C is able to carry 40 to 50% more payload per flight for similar direct operating costs of earlier generation light agricultural aircraft such as the Pawnee, Agwagon and others. This increase in productivity combined with lower maintenance costs ensures increased profitability for the operator. |
