The GAF Nomad is a
utility aircraft
A utility aircraft is a general-purpose light airplane or helicopter, usually used for transporting people, freight or other supplies, but is also used for other duties when more specialized aircraft are not required or available.
The term can a ...
produced by the
Government Aircraft Factories
Government Aircraft Factories (GAF) was the name of an aircraft manufacturer owned by the Government of Australia. The primary factory was located at Fishermans Bend, a suburb of Melbourne in Victoria. It had its origins in the lead-up to Worl ...
(GAF) of
Australia in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
.
Supported by the Australian Government, design work began in the mid-1960s, and it made its
maiden flight
The maiden flight, also known as first flight, of an aircraft is the first occasion on which it leaves the ground under its own power. The same term is also used for the first launch of rockets.
The maiden flight of a new aircraft type is alw ...
on 23 July 1971.
Despite some export sales and commercial operations, sales were not as sufficient and production stopped in 1985.
The twin-
turboprop
A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller.
A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. ...
, high-wing aircraft has a
retractable gear and came in two variants: the initial ''N22'', followed by the stretched ''N24''.
The
Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia
The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), commonly known as the Flying Doctor, is an air medical service in Australia. It is a non-profit organisation that provides emergency and primary health care services for those living in rural, remote an ...
, the
Australian Army
The Australian Army is the principal land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA), wh ...
and the
Australian Customs Service
The Australian Customs Service was an Australian Government agency responsible for Australian border protection, duties and taxes between 1985 and 2009. The Service was first under the portfolio of the Department of Industry, Technology and Comme ...
were major users.
The Australian military withdrew almost all of its remaining Nomads amid reports of safety concerns during the 1990s.
By the 21st century, only a handful of aircraft remained in regular use in Australia.
GippsAero
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 agricul ...
(later part of
Mahindra Aerospace
Mahindra Aerospace is an Indian aerospace company, part of the Mahindra Group. It is the first Indian private firm to make smaller civil aircraft for the Indian general aviation market. It is an AS9100 Rev.D certified design organization.
Acqui ...
) acquired its
type certificate
A type certificate signifies the airworthiness of a particular category of aircraft, according to its manufacturing design (''type design''). It confirms that the aircraft of a new type intended for serial production, is in compliance with applica ...
in 2008 and announced plans to produce it again as the ''GA18'', but the project proceeded slowly and was ultimately stopped, with the Gippsland development facility closing in late 2020.
Development
Origins
During 1965, development of what would become the Nomad commenced at GAF, although a considerable number of projects and design studies, including a compact twin-engined utility aircraft proposed by the
Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation
The Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) was an Australian aircraft manufacturer. The CAC was established in 1936, to provide Australia with the capability to produce military aircraft and engines.
History
In 1935 the Chief General Manager ...
(CAC) in the 1950s, had been conducted beforehand.
[ In 1966, GAF contacted the ]Australian Army
The Australian Army is the principal land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA), wh ...
, seeking feedback on their proposal, which was of a single-engined turboprop
A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller.
A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. ...
-powered aircraft that could replace existing assets such as the American Cessna 180 and the Swiss Pilatus PC-6 Porter
The Pilatus PC-6 Porter is a single-engined STOL utility aircraft designed by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland. First flown in 1959, the PC-6 was produced at Pilatus Flugzeugwerke in Stans, Switzerland. It has been built in both piston engine- a ...
. The Army informed the company that, based on its combat experiences in Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
, the service believed a twin-engine configuration would be more useful to them. In the civil sector, an envisioned crop-dusting variant, viewed by GAF as a counterpart to the successful de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver
The de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver is a single-engined high-wing propeller-driven short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft developed and manufactured by de Havilland Canada. It has been primarily operated as a bush plane and has been use ...
, was pitched to potential agricultural operators; they largely favoured using two engines, and noted that it ought to possess greater endurance and "hot-and-high" performance.[
Based on feedback, GAF completely redesigned their proposal.][ This redesign was initially referred to as ''Project N''; its basic configuration was of a twin-engined, multi-purpose transport aircraft. An original intention was that the entire rear ]fuselage
The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraf ...
would be hinged so that it could be swung open, providing generous rear-loading access to accommodate its target payload of a compact road vehicle; this choice necessitated the adoption of a raised cruciform tail. The new design was viewed as being a direct rival of existing products on the market from manufactures such as Britten-Norman, Shorts
Shorts are a garment worn over the pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" because they ...
and de Havilland Canada
De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited is an aircraft manufacturer with facilities formerly based in the Downsview area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The original home of de Havilland Canada was the home of the Canadian Air and Space Museum lo ...
.[ It was intended to be suitable for use by both local and overseas customers in both civil and military markets. According to aerospace periodical ]Flight International
''Flight International'' is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", it is the world's old ...
, it was apparent even at an early stage of the project that the programme could not be realistically accomplished without financial assistance from the Australian government, partly because the nation lacked a large domestic market.[
During January 1970, the Australian government decided to provide $A3.2 million (£1.6 million) to GAF for the production of a pair of flight-capable prototypes along with a single static airframe for testing.][ The government was keen both to foster the growth of the nation's indigenous aviation industry and specifically to GAF to establish itself with a new aircraft in order to maintain aircraft production at the company, which was then set to end after the scheduled termination of license-produced ]Mirage III
The Dassault Mirage III () is a family of single/dual-seat, single-engine, fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by French aircraft company Dassault Aviation. It was the first Western European combat aircraft to exceed Mach 2 in horizonta ...
fighters.[ Furthermore, the twin-engined aircraft was viewed as a somewhat of a natural successor to the earlier DHA-3 Drover, a ]trimotor
A trimotor is an aircraft powered by three engines and represents a compromise between complexity and safety and was often a result of the limited power of the engines available to the designer. Many trimotors were designed and built in the 1920s ...
passenger airliner which had been built by de Havilland Australia
de Havilland Aircraft Pty Ltd (DHA) was part of de Havilland, then became a separate company. It acquired the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation in 1985 and was purchased by Boeing in 2000 and merged with the Boeing owned AeroSpace Technologie ...
.
Into flight
On 23 July 1971, the first prototype (registered ''VH-SUP'') flew for the first time. By this point, the aircraft had been designated as the ''N2'', and was being aimed at both the military and civilian markets. The designation ''N22'' was to be used initially for military-orientated Nomads; this model, which was subsequently re-designated as ''N22B'' during production, was designed to perform military support operations, including aerial surveillance, medical evacuation, and other ancillary mission types. Furthermore, the ''N24A'' designation was assigned to a lengthened version of the Nomad; this was marketed as the principal commercial version.[
On 5 December 1971, the second prototype performed its first flight. Reportedly, flight testing went relatively smoothly. A minor issue affecting the retraction of the undercarriage was quickly rectified, while directional stability was augmented by a 30 per cent increase in the area of both the ]fin
A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. Fin ...
and rudder
A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adve ...
.[ However, the programme was affected by a political dispute between the Army and the ]Royal Australian Air Force
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
, colours =
, colours_label =
, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...
(RAAF) over whether the Army should continue to operate fixed-wing aircraft; this argument motivated the Australian Government to delay authorising production, causing several key figures of GAF's design team to resign
Resignation is the formal act of leaving or quitting one's office or position. A resignation can occur when a person holding a position gained by election or appointment steps down, but leaving a position upon the expiration of a term, or choos ...
in protest. During May 1972, production of the Nomad was finally authorised at a cost of $A13 million (£6.4 million); by this point, the Army had emerged from the row with success, being allocated 11 aircraft out of the first batch of 20 Nomads. At the same time, the conversion of one of the prototypes to represent a new stretched variant was also authorised.[
In service, the Nomad was soon considered to be a problematic aircraft; early evaluations of the type performed by the military were frequently critical of it. Reportedly, safety concerns raised included fatigue issues with the tailplane, incorrect strength calculations having been used, and multiple questions surrounding the aircraft's overall aerodynamic stability and airworthiness.] During August 1976, a high-profile failure occurred when a stretched-fuselage N24 variant crashed during a test flight with modifications to the tail plane, resulting in the deaths of both GAF's chief test pilot Stuart Pearce (father of actor Guy Pearce
Guy Edward Pearce (born 5 October 1967) is an Australian actor. Born in Ely, Cambridgeshire in England, and raised in Geelong, Victoria in Australia, he started his career portraying Mike Young in the Australian television series ''Neighbours ...
), and David Hooper, the chief structures designer. As of May 2007, the Nomad has been reportedly involved in a total of 32 total hull-loss accidents, which have cumulatively resulted in 76 fatalities.
During late 1980, by which point roughly 130 Nomads have been sold in both civil and military versions, the Australian Government gave its approval for GAF to proceed with the production of a further batch of 55 Nomads; this brought the authorised total production to 200 units, which was the forecast break-even point of the programme.["GAF."](_blank)
''Flight International'', 21 March 1981. p. 853. In 1981, its unit cost was A$991,000.
Termination and prospective revival
During 1985, production of the Nomad was terminated; in total, only 172 aircraft (including the two prototypes) were manufactured, largely due to the limited number of foreign sales that had been secured by GAF. In 1986, GAF was incorporated into Aerospace Technologies of Australia, which has since been rebranded as Boeing Australia
Boeing Australia Holdings Pty Ltd, or simply Boeing Australia, is Boeing's largest subdivision outside the United States. Established in 2002, the company oversees its seven wholly owned subsidiaries, consolidating and co-ordinating Boeing’s ...
.
In June 2008, Gippsland Aeronautics (now Mahindra Aerospace
Mahindra Aerospace is an Indian aerospace company, part of the Mahindra Group. It is the first Indian private firm to make smaller civil aircraft for the Indian general aviation market. It is an AS9100 Rev.D certified design organization.
Acqui ...
) announced it had won bidding to take over the Nomad's type certificate
A type certificate signifies the airworthiness of a particular category of aircraft, according to its manufacturing design (''type design''). It confirms that the aircraft of a new type intended for serial production, is in compliance with applica ...
; the company also stated that it would probably be restarting production of new aircraft at some point. Prior to this acquisition, some of the GippsAero design and testing engineers, including the company's co-founder George Morgan, had worked for GAF during the Nomad's development.[ Reportedly, the N24-based ''GA18'' was to be re-engineered with new powerplants and propellers, a glass cockpit, and would incorporate various weight-saving measures.][ It was planned to bring it into service after the development and certification of the new ten-seat GA10, which was due to be completed in March 2013. By 2021, GippsAero had ceased all production and development and plans for the GA18 had been abandoned.
, only one Nomad was still flying in Australia, although another four were operating in neighbouring New Zealand.
]
Design
The GAF Nomad is a twin-engine utility/commuter aircraft capable of Short Takeoff/Landing (STOL) operations. It was produced in two primary variants, the N22B and N24A, the latter being 5 ft 10 in (177 cm) longer than the N22B; the N24A also differed by its larger nose compartment and separated access provided for the main baggage compartment, which was located aft of the cabin. Key features of the Nomad's general configuration included its rugged and straightforward design, STOL performance, its compact and economic engines and its relatively unobstructed and flat cabin floor. It had been designed to meet or exceed established military requirements of the era, as well as in compliance with regulations set out in the Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...
's (FAA) FAR Part 23
The Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) are rules prescribed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) governing all aviation activities in the United States. The FARs comprise Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). A wide variety o ...
.[
The Nomad was powered by a pair of Allison 250B17B/C ]turboprop
A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller.
A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. ...
engines, capable of generating up to each.[ Journalist Hugh Field observed the selection of this powerplant to be atypical, while its basic model had a strong reputation from its widespread use on ]helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...
s, the Nomad was the first application of this engine model. GAF's design team, although reportedly having been initially hesitant about applying a new engine to a new airframe, praised the engine's behaviour upon the prototypes.[ In-flight, core engine operations could be controlled via a single lever, although additional controls are used for atypical actions such as ]Feathering
Feathering is a technique used in computer graphics software to smooth or blur the edges of a feature. The term is inherited from a technique of fine retouching using fine feathers.
Paintbrush feathering
Feathering is most commonly used on a ...
. For ease of maintenance, the nacelles were built for easy access, while the engines consist of sub-assemblies that can be individually overhauled or replaced without extracting the entire engine.
The cabin of the Nomad has a continuous rectangular cross-section and a large freight door, both features favourable towards utility/freight operators.[ It has a full-width flat floor, complete with tie-down rails, which has been stressed to bear at least . While most commonly used as a baggage hold, the nose compartment could also be configured into a bay for housing various equipment packages, including ]radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...
systems, camera
A camera is an optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), with a ...
s, or laser
A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fi ...
scanning/ranging equipment.[ Externally, the flat underside of the fuselage could be furnished with a pair of ]hard point
A hardpoint is an attachment location on a structural frame designed to transfer force and carry an external or internal load. The term is usually used to refer to the mounting points (more formally known as a weapon station or station) on the ...
s, suitable for the installation of mini-gun
The M134 Minigun is an American 7.62×51mm NATO six-barrel rotary machine gun with a high rate of fire (2,000 to 6,000 rounds per minute). It features a Gatling-style rotating barrel assembly with an external power source, normally an electric ...
s and other munitions; an additional four hard points can be fitted under the wings. To achieve an unobstructed fuselage, the two
spars of the strut-braced wing are not continuous, terminating at attachment points on the side of the fuselage.[
According to Flight International, the adoption of a retractable undercarriage was a relatively unusual feature for an aircraft of this type; GAF designers selected this arrangement as to avoid excessive aerodynamic drag while enabling the use of large, widely spaced low-pressure tyres, these being key to allowing for rough field operations. Another uncommon feature for an aircraft of its class was the adoption of an all-moving tailplane. GAF suggested that a swing-tail variant could be easily produced due to an intentionally-designed manufacturing joint in the rear-fuselage that could act as a break point.][ The Nomad was made available in an amphibian variant; it was reportedly one of only a few aircraft in production to feature this facility during the 1980s.] The Nomad also possesses a greater maximum cruise speed than most other strut-braced competitors, save for the de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter.[
The Nomad's cockpit, while typically fitted with dual flight controls, is designed to be operated by a single pilot. All of the primary controls are either duplicated or of a ]fail-safe
In engineering, a fail-safe is a design feature or practice that in the event of a specific type of failure, inherently responds in a way that will cause minimal or no harm to other equipment, to the environment or to people. Unlike inherent safe ...
design; both the flap
Flap may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Flap'' (film), a 1970 American film
* Flap, a boss character in the arcade game ''Gaiapolis''
* Flap, a minor character in the film '' Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland''
Biology and he ...
s and undercarriage are electrically actuated; to aid low-speed manoeuvring, an auto-flap button immediately selects 20° flap.[ For militarised models, the cockpit can be outfitted with Stanley Aviation zero-zero ejection seats, boron-]carbide
In chemistry, a carbide usually describes a compound composed of carbon and a metal. In metallurgy, carbiding or carburizing is the process for producing carbide coatings on a metal piece.
Interstitial / Metallic carbides
The carbides of th ...
armour protection around the seats, forward bulkhead and side-panels, as well as bullet-resistant glass installed in the panels of windscreen. The cockpit reportedly possesses above-average external visibility in most directions.[
]
Operational history
Civil use
According to aviation publication Flight International
''Flight International'' is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", it is the world's old ...
, the principal civil markets for the Nomad were the Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...
and North American regions. The stretched 16-seat N24A version was the main commercial variant and the most successful model of the Nomad in the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. In the US market, the type was marketed and sold by the Hughes Aircraft Company which acted as a distributor; by early 1981, Hughes had taken delivery of 20 Nomads, around half of those in commercial use at that point.
Military use
Australia
The Australian Army
The Australian Army is the principal land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA), wh ...
leased the second prototype N22 in 1973. It acquired 11 N22B between 1975 and 1977 for the 173rd Aviation Squadron. It subsequently acquired a 12th N22B from the Royal Australian Air Force
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
, colours =
, colours_label =
, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...
in 1987. In 1993 the Army acquired eight more N22B and four N24A to replace its Pilatus PC-6 Porter
The Pilatus PC-6 Porter is a single-engined STOL utility aircraft designed by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland. First flown in 1959, the PC-6 was produced at Pilatus Flugzeugwerke in Stans, Switzerland. It has been built in both piston engine- a ...
s. These 12 aircraft had been stored unsold when production ceased. All were withdrawn in 1995 following a report issued in May of that year which recommended the type's withdrawal from military duties amid concerns over airworthiness. Most were sold on to the Indonesian Navy
The Indonesian Navy ( id, Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Laut, , Indonesian National Military-Naval Force, TNI-AL) is the naval branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It was founded on 10 September 1945 and has a role to patrol ...
, but two unflyable airframes are retained as training aids.
The Royal Australian Air Force
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
, colours =
, colours_label =
, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...
(RAAF) acquired an N22B in 1977. Although owned by the RAAF, it was operated as part of the Army's 173rd Aviation Squadron and was eventually transferred to the Army in 1987. The RAAF subsequently acquired a former Coastwatch
The Australian Coastal Surveillance Organisation, also known as Coastwatch, was an operational division of the Australian Customs Service and the de facto Australian coast guard service. The former Coastwatch Division is now part of the Austr ...
Nomad Searchmaster and three N24As in 1989, one which had been a GAF/ASTA test frame and two from a cancelled order for United States Customs Service
The United States Customs Service was the very first federal law enforcement agency of the U.S. federal government. Established on July 31, 1789, it collected import tariffs, performed other selected border security duties, as well as conducted c ...
. According to journalist Ian McPhedran, the Nomad became unpopular with military pilots due to safety concerns that weren't addressed by GAF and would sometimes refuse to fly the type. The RAAF decided to withdrawn most of its Nomads in 1993; several of the retired aircraft were sold onto Indonesia. This sale was not without controversy as it allegedly cost more to sell the aircraft than it would have to scrapped them.[McPhedran, Ian]
"A Nomadic Death Ship."
''Herald Sun'', 27 January 2004.
Indonesia
The Indonesian Navy
The Indonesian Navy ( id, Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Laut, , Indonesian National Military-Naval Force, TNI-AL) is the naval branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It was founded on 10 September 1945 and has a role to patrol ...
Aviation Service was an early customer for the type and would eventually operate a relatively large fleet. Between 1975 and 1977, it received its first batch of 12 Nomad Searchmaster B and six Searchmaster L aircraft. These 12 surveillance planes were offered by Australia to Indonesia during the early months of the invasion of East Timor, at a moment military operations against the East Timorese resistance were particularly intense and murderous. Subsequently, Indonesia acquired a pair of N24As from the RAAF during 1993, quickly followed by 14 N22B and four N24A from the Australian Army in 1995; these were largely operated for aerial surveillance purposes. The 1990s purchases came at a cost of $2 million to Indonesia, but were supported by around $1 million per year of funding from Australia for the following decade. During 2011, it was announced that just over half of the Indonesian fleet was to be placed into storage and that only a handful of aircraft were to continue regular flight operations after this point.
Variants
;N.2 Nomad
:Prototype, two built.
;N.22
:Initial production version for 12 passengers for the Australian Army.
;N.22B
:13 passenger civil version.
;N.22C
:Cargo variant modified from N.22B with Maximum Takeoff Weight
The maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) or maximum gross takeoff weight (MGTOW) or maximum takeoff mass (MTOM) of an aircraft is the maximum weight at which the pilot is allowed to attempt to take off, due to structural or other limits. The analogous ...
increased to .
;N.22F Floatmaster
:Floatplane version with Wipline floats.
;N.24
:Utility transport aircraft with a fuselage lengthened by .
;N.24A
:Improved version for 17 passengers, 40 built.
;N.24B
:
;GA18
:Re-engineered 18-seat N24 in development by GippsAero
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 agricul ...
.
;Nomad Missionmaster
:Military transport and utility aircraft.
;Nomad Searchmaster
: Maritime patrol and surveillance aircraft.
;Nomad N.22 Searchmaster B
:Coastal patrol aircraft, seven built.
;Nomad N.22 Searchmaster L
:Improved version of the Searchmaster B, 11 built.
;Nomad N.22 Searchmaster LI
:Improved version of the Searchmaster B, fitted with the APS-104(N) 2 radar.
;Nomad N.22 Searchmaster LII
:Improved version of the Searchmaster B, fitted with the APS-104(V) 5 radar.
Operators
Civil operators
Military operators
Other government operators
Aircraft on display
;Indonesia
* N.22B ''P-806'' – Lamongan City Plaza, Lamongan Regency
Lamongan Regency is a regency ''(kabupaten)'' of East Java, Indonesia. It has a total land area of approximately or + 3.78% of the area of East Java Province. With a length of along the coastline, the sea area of Lamongan Regency is about , i ...
, East Java
East Java ( id, Jawa Timur) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located in the easternmost hemisphere of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean bord ...
* N.22B ''P-806'' – Soesilo Soedarman Museum, Cilacap Regency
Cilacap Regency ( jv, ꦏꦨꦸꦥꦠꦺꦤ꧀ꦕꦶꦭꦕꦥ꧀, also spelt: Chilachap, old spelling: Tjilatjap, Sundanese: ) is a regency () in the southwestern part of Central Java province in Indonesia. Its capital is the town of Cilacap.
...
, Central Java. Original number ''P-818''
* N.22B ''P-808'' – Bahari Monument, Tegal
Tegal is a city in the northwest part of Central Java of Indonesia. It is situated on the north coast (or ''pesisir'') of Central Java, about from Semarang, the capital of the province. It had a population of 239,599 at the 2010 Census and 276 ...
, Central Java
* N.22B ''P-809'' – SMK Penerbangan Dharma Wirawan, Sidoarjo Regency
Sidoarjo Regency ( jv, ꦑꦧꦸꦥꦠꦺꦤ꧀ꦱꦶꦢꦲꦂꦗ, Kabupatèn Sidaharja) is a regency in East Java, Indonesia. It is bordered by Surabaya city and Gresik Regency to the north, by Pasuruan Regency to the south, by Mojokerto Regenc ...
, East Java
* N.22B ''P-811'' – Tirta Wisata Park, Jombang, Jombang Regency
Jombang Regency ( id, Kabupaten Jombang; jv, ꦏꦧꦸꦥꦠꦺꦤ꧀ꦗꦺꦴꦩ꧀ꦧꦁ) is a regency of East Java, Indonesia, situated to the southwest of Surabaya. The capital of the regency is the town of Jombang. The regency has an area o ...
, East Java
* N.22B ''P-814'' – Indonesian Naval Academy
The Indonesian Naval Academy ( id, Akademi Angkatan Laut or ) is a service academy of the Indonesian Navy, the naval component of the Indonesian National Armed Forces Academy System or the . Its campus is located in Surabaya, East Java and train ...
, Surabaya, East Java
* N.22B ''P-815'' – Sangatta, East Kutai Regency
East Kutai Regency ( id, Kabupaten Kutai Timur) is a regency of East Kalimantan province, Indonesia. It has an area of 35,747.50 km2 and had a population of 253,904 at the 2010 census and 434,459 at the 2020 census. The town of Sangatta is the ...
, East Kalimantan
East Kalimantan ( Indonesian: ) is a province of Indonesia. Its territory comprises the eastern portion of Borneo. It had a population of about 3.03 million at the 2010 census (within the current boundary), 3.42 million at the 2015 census, and 3 ...
* N.22B ''P-828'' – Jl. Boulevard Kendari, Kendari
Kendari is the capital city of the Indonesian province of Southeast Sulawesi. With a population of 345,107 according to the 2020 census, it is the most populous city in the province, and the fourth most on Sulawesi. The city covers an area of , ...
, Southeast Sulawesi
Southeast Sulawesi ( id, Sulawesi Tenggara) is a province on the island of Sulawesi, forming the southeastern peninsula of that island, together with a number of substantial offshore islands such as Buton, Muna, Kabaena and Wawonii (formerly ...
* N.22B ''P-830'' – Museum Probolinggo, Probolinggo
Probolinggo ( id, Kota Probolinggo, mad, Prabâlingghâ) is a city on the north coast of East Java province, Indonesia. It covers an area of 56.67 sq. km, and had a population of 217,062 at the 2010 census and 239,649 at the 2020 census ...
, East Java
* N.24A ''P-839'' – Terminal 2 Juanda International Airport
Juanda International Airport (JIA) ( id, Bandar Udara Internasional Juanda) , is an international airport located in Sedati, Sidoarjo. It is now the third busiest airport in Indonesia (after Soekarno-Hatta and Ngurah Rai airport). This airp ...
, Sidoarjo Regency, East Java
;Thailand
* N.22B ''46122'' – in the Royal Thai Air Force Museum
The Royal Thai Air Force Museum is located in Don Mueang District, Bangkok, Thailand. It is located on the Phahonyothin Road just to the south of Wing 6 of the domestic terminal of the Don Mueang Airport. It was served by the Royal Thai Air Force ...
at Don Mueang International Airport
Don Mueang International Airport ( th, ท่าอากาศยานดอนเมือง, , , or colloquially as , ) is one of two international airports serving the Bangkok Metropolitan Region, the other one being Suvarnabhumi Airp ...
in Bangkok
;United States
* N.22C ex-''N6328'' of the United States Customs Service
The United States Customs Service was the very first federal law enforcement agency of the U.S. federal government. Established on July 31, 1789, it collected import tariffs, performed other selected border security duties, as well as conducted c ...
– on outdoor display at the Pima Air & Space Museum
The Pima Air & Space Museum, located in Tucson, Arizona, is one of the world's largest non-government funded aerospace museums. The museum features a display of nearly 300 aircraft spread out over 80 acres (320,000 m²) on a campus oc ...
in Tucson, Arizona
Notable incidents
* On 6 June 1976, Tun Fuad Stephens
Muhammad Fuad Stephens, (born Donald Aloysius Marmaduke Stephens; 14 September 1920 – 6 June 1976) was a Malaysian politician who served as the 1st and 5th Chief Minister of Sabah from September 1963 to December 1964 and again briefly from ...
, the first chief minister of Sabah
Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory o ...
, Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
, plus ten others, died in the crash of a Nomad in the state capital, Kota Kinabalu
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = From top, left to right, bottom:Kota Kinabalu skyline, Wawasan intersection, Tun Mustapha Tower, Kota Kinabalu Coastal Highway, the Kota Kinabalu City Mosque, the Wism ...
.
* On 6 August 1976, a prototype model N24 operated by the aircraft manufacturer (GAF
GAF may refer to:
Military
* General of the Air Force, US
* Ghana Armed Forces
* Guardia alla Frontiera, Italy
Other uses
* Gaf, a Perso-Arabic letter
* Gaf (Mandaeism), a demon of the Mandaean underworld
* GAF Materials Corporation, an Amer ...
) crashed immediately after take-off from Avalon Airport
Avalon Airport is an international airport located in Avalon in the City of Greater Geelong in Victoria, Australia. While located outside the Melbourne metropolitan area, it is the second busiest of the four airports serving the state cap ...
for a flight to test a new modification of the horizontal stabiliser. The test pilot (Stuart Pearce, father of actor Guy Pearce
Guy Edward Pearce (born 5 October 1967) is an Australian actor. Born in Ely, Cambridgeshire in England, and raised in Geelong, Victoria in Australia, he started his career portraying Mike Young in the Australian television series ''Neighbours ...
) and chief structures designer (David Hooper) were killed, and the flight test engineer was seriously injured.
* On 23 December 1979, a Nomad operated by Douglas Airways (P2-DNL) crashed on the airstrip (MRM) at Manari, a village on the Kokoda Track
The Kokoda Track or Trail is a single-file foot thoroughfare that runs overland – in a straight line – through the Owen Stanley Range in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The track was the location of the 1942 World War II battle between Japanes ...
in the Central Province of Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
, killing all 16 passengers and crew.
* On 4 May 1987, a Nomad of the Indonesian Naval Aviation Unit, PUSPENERBAL crashed at the Mapur Island, Bintan area, Riau Province. The aircraft was a total loss.
* On 12 Mar 1990, a Nomad (A18-401) of the Australian Air Force (RAAF) crashed due to a structural failure of the tail in flight killing the sole pilot. https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19900312-0 and http://www.adf-gallery.com.au/3a18.htm. The aircraft had previously done 177 hours of single engine ground runs by the OEM.
* On 9 September 1991, an Australian Army N22B Nomad crashed near Drake in northern NSW with the loss of four people, including the pilot.
* On 18 September 1998, two US Customs N22S Nomads collided over the sea between Puerto Rico and Curaçao. Both damaged planes attempted to return to Puerto Rico, however, one plane crashed into the sea one mile east of Mona Island. The pilot was killed while the copilot was rescued. The second plane was able to land safely in Aquadilla. Puerto Rico.
* On 10 February 2001, Gum Air
Gum Air is a Surinamese airline based at Zorg en Hoop Airport in Paramaribo, Suriname. Gum Air cooperates with Trans Guyana Airways to provide daily flights between Zorg en Hoop Airport (ORG) in Paramaribo, Suriname and Ogle Airport (OGL) in ...
’s N24A Nomad (PZ-TBP) crashed on a flight from Paramaribo – Zanderij ( Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport PBM/SMJP) to Njoeng Jacob Kondre Airstrip SMJK. The aircraft had fallen out of radio contact, and personnel at the airstrip in Jacob Kondre said it was flying low, and crashed into a mountain. All nine passengers plus the pilot perished.
* On 30 December 2007, a PENERBAL Nomad crashed in the area of We island, Nangroe Aceh Darussalam Province.
* On 7 September 2009, a Nomad of the Indonesian Naval Aviation Unit, PENERBAL, crashed in the area of Bulungan, East Borneo. The aircraft was on a routine patrol near Ambalat Oil Block. The accident caused the fatality of one Naval officer, plus three civilians on board. The pilot and copilot received serious injuries.
* On 28 January 2010, a Nomad of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) crashed shortly after takeoff into a residential area in Cotabato City
Cotabato City, officially the City of Cotabato ( Maguindanaon: ''Kuta nu Kutawatu'', Jawi:
كوتا نو كوتاواتو; Iranun: ''Bandar a Kotawato'', بندر ا كوتاواتو; fil, Lungsod ng Cotabato), is a third class independent c ...
, killing Maj. Gen. Butch Lacson, commander of the PAF 3rd Air Division, plus seven other officers on board."8 Killed in Air Force plane crash."
''ABS-CBN News'', Retrieved: 28 January 2010.
Specifications
See also
References
External links
– RAAF Museum
– fourays
The Design and Development of a Light Utility Aircraft by Government Aircraft Factories - DECISION 63
- Initial project approval document
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaf Nomad
1970s Australian civil utility aircraft
GAF aircraft
Gippsland aircraft
STOL aircraft
High-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1971
Twin-turboprop tractor aircraft