Gippsland Aeronautics (GippsAero since 2009) 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.
Gippsland Aeronautics was founded in 1977 by Peter Furlong as an aircraft maintenance and modification business operating out of Latrobe Regional Airport in Morwell, working for large organisations such as the National Safety Council of Australia and Esso Australia, as well as local commercial operators. In 1984 George Morgan joined Peter Furlong to form Gippsland Aeronautics Pty Ltd as an incorporated entity.
In December 2009, Mahindra Aerospace Pvt. Ltd., belonging to the Mahindra Group of India, bought a 75.1% majority stake in the company and renamed the company GippsAero.
Gippsland GA8 Airvan
In 1993 the company commenced design work on a new aircraft designated the GA8, to fill a market niche between the six-seater Cessna 206 and the ten-seater Cessna Caravan. The "proof of concept" GA8 Airvan made its first flight in March 1995 and appeared at the Australian International Airshow in Avalon. The prototype GA8 Airvan made its first flight in August 1996. The Airvan then underwent a major flight testing and development program. In 2000 the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority certificated the GA8 Airvan to FAR 23 Amendment 48, and the vehicle began to be exported from December of the following year, with a delivery to Maya Island Air in Belize, Central America.
Gippsland GA8 Airvan, registration PH-KMR, built 2005, serial number GA8-05084 Ede, Netherlands, 23 August 2019
