Hey Gordstar,
I've done quite a bit of time in various aircraft of similar size to the airvan, including a few hundred hours in the airvan itself. I fly a lot of survey, although not photographic and the airvan would be terrible to keep on an accurate line, as in accurate survey tolerances not accurate charter tolerances as it is quite a touchy little beast, most dont seem to fly straight, and as mentioned earlier, there is no rudder trim. Not really an issue for charter but to fly accurate lines as you know, its all about footwork and its no fun to get out of the saddle limping your way to the pub!! Doing photography you prob wont be too low, so ventilation wont be too much of a prob, but they really arent that stable by comparison to other types out there. Although quite a step up, the PAC750 Cresco or 750XL are both very stable, quite fast, efficient machines that can come with a hole in the floor straight from the factory. The very good GPS slaved autopilot would eb handy too. Gippsland should chuck the same autopilot in their planes!!