Twin Otter, get real. ATPL or what ever - get real!

You allready have the most exspesive 20 min flights!

Cost cycl's on shut down on the Maun to Camp flights on 1 engine only.

The Caravan works well in the rest of the World, You guys have a problem - find it!!! Dont tell me about the Delta yes have seen it - that is not a problem!!!!!!!!

Caravans have only realy been in Maun a short time Sef got the first that are in use, but they were tried some years before that.

Why should the supposed reality of economic self interest stand in the way of aviation safety and an increase in price structuring on those whose shoulders are the broadest and can thus afford the increase in cost, in other words, the affluent tourist.

Oh why thank you...very accurate indeed. These damn youngsters who know nothing hey SRT. Must really piss on your battery.

So please explain to meas to why the Caravan is not a good 'bush plane' then...which was in your original post?! I always stand to be corrected.

Shooting your mouth off re subjects of which you have little or no knowledge will attract the sciolist tag. Look around you. Bots is not exactly a harsh bush environment. Try PNG, Arctic/Antarctic/Alaska/North West Territories for those. Point being the 'Van is not particularly rugged (try putting one on floats into even a mild chop and see what becomes of your firewall), not a particularly good short field machine and is not something that can be operated with minimal attention to the mechanical bits. In short, it's a bit soft for the job. Good for tar to tar, great for the short hop freight role for which Fedex wanted it but a bit of a liability trying to land in soft mud, four inches of water or a seriously unprepared strip.

Some might have thought that a rudder tiller was a euphemism for nose wheel steering below certain airspeeds to compensate for the 7-9 degree efficacy of the actual rudder pedals on the nose wheel gear assembly on aircraft heavier than the teeny tiny range. Others might have noticed that Wilderness Air are delighted with the Cessna 208B which it says, on its own website, is capable of taking off from nearly all strips it services. But the website neglects to tell the tourist what the company uses on the other airstrips it services. Strips which are, presumably, too tough for the Cessna Caravan which was indeed invented pretty much for its launch customer, Fedex, and which just loves the fabulius runways so common to US night freight runs. Only the Russians make a really good bush plane, the Kukuruznik, but the preflight for that machine takes a full half hour and you get your hands oily doing it so that cramps it up a little for the white scarf and goggles brigade.
Toodle pup or do I mean pip?

If you refer to the venerable AN2, Mr Cheetah, one has made that mistake. Stood under the exhaust drain valve the first time one pre flighted the beast and got half a litre of old engine oil square in the eye for one's efforts.

Fortunately we learn from our mistakes.



Mostly...

The oil and the battery, two good uses for a frisky first officer?

One is afeared of Russkyi akkumulators, yer Catship. Always think they're watching me and waiting for their opportunity to leak or explode.

MWOMP - unless you were on a safari with midgets, this weight and balance would have been over the TO limit with an hours worth of flying and the 20kg luggage restrictions most operators use - used to be 10 or 12kg.
Not such a smart move.

My comment was in agreement with Foxcotte - and making reference to being heavy - not overweight - would have made the EFATO even more challenging.


:ugh:

I would hazard a guess that if you're using the notional weights of either 70/80kg for a male, 60/70 for a female and 20kg for baggage including the hand or lap stuff, that your load sheet will always be pretty much a fabrication.
So it's midgets all round and don't throw them around the room or you'll be out of the rugby like old Mr Phipps, Zara's room mate. Mind you, he at least got a second chance. As for such matters as weight and EFATO in a one engined wind up, glide speed stays the same as I recollect from my days teaching the forces. So what has happened these days to the EFATO airmanship field that all pilots used to predeterminedly select in case of an EFATO and practice getting into as well. Gosh, anyone out there remember, was it 35 at FAGM, the one with the mine dumps? Not a place for sissys at night in a one engined plank.

SRT, although it doesn't work so well in the deep bush that you are describing, in Botswana, the caravan has no issues.

Most loads will not be bigger than 10 or 12 people. It is quick and easy to load and unload, with a large enough cabin to keep most people comfortable in the hour or so hops.
Easily converted to a freight config and easily deals with the strips that we fly into and out of.

So while it might not be a perfect bush plane, it has been adapted to this role pretty easily.


@ Cc, Its all well and good having a field to go to after takeoff, but in this strip, there are very few options available to you.
Plus you have to be able to reach them, specially if that crazy rumour of someone jumping out midflight. Would turn the glide characteristics akin to that of a brick.

It seems all a bit academic to argue about weight issues when the plane sucessfully got airborne off this purportedly too short runway. I'm reliably informed that two passengers on board had no luggage and several others were small ladies. Its not the take off that was the issue, but what happened to the aircraft that prevented it flying away that really counts.

However leaving this subject aside, the mayday call apparently contained the word 'fire' in some context, and the propeller was at dead stop when it impacted the ground. Not really much to work with for the poor pilot.

Fox, you may want to check that mayday call info. I was chatting to the guy who heard the mayday call, and he made no mention of a fire on board.

Why? Weight doesn't affect glide range. Wouldn't have made a difference one way or the other.

He wasn't overweight or too heavy for the airstrip. He didn't hit the trees. He lost power for reasons no one will probably ever know, got the airplane down and the impact was survivable. Unfortunately the fire wasn't.

Moremi Air Web Site
 

Why has Moremi Air taken down their web site? This is leading to rumours in the travel industry that they are no longer operating. Is a re-branding in the 'air'?

Looks like a DNS or server config foulup at their ISP
Has anyone told them that it is down ?

And removed from Wikipedia!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moremi_Air

I think next season may see a 'Kwando Air'. Or possibly 'Botswana Sky Air'.

OVERWEIGHT - NOT
 

You keep going on and on about AKD being overweight. Yet you do no research, ask no questions, put in no effort. Have you flown out of this airstrip or are you calculating your posts from your armchair? It is a fair question when you are potentially damaging someones reputation.

This is what I have found out.

This careful pilot did not get to his advanced age by being an idiot. I have been told he flew in the Delta before. So unfamiliarity would not be an issue.

The aircraft was equipped with an ADAS system (see what you can find out if you put in some effort), therefore its engine history is known. The engine was installed in mid 2009 (as I was told) so not exceptionally old.

Now for your weight issue

This aircraft was equipped with an APE II conversion. For the naive this means the aircraft's MAUW for take-off was 9062 lbs. It did not have an APE III or APE STOL conversions installed (look it up).

I have been told by two pilots in Maun that Martin called 3 hours fuel on departure. Depending on the company's operating parameters that would put his fuel in the 900-930 lbs area. After he burned roughly 300-330 lbs (for the 1:15 flight), that would give him about 600 lbs fuel.

I was told he was then flying to Pom Pom (20 min) and back to Maun 20 min.

Now calculate your weight and balances, satisfy yourself that the aircraft was not overweight and please stop slinging mud.

Investigation
 

My sources inform me that there is a considerable hold up in the investigation for reasons unknown. This is not good for Moremi Air and all other stakeholders. Does anyone know what is actually happening - if anything?

Capt Livingston-I would be surprised if much progress is being made on an investigation.
Personally I think a few people in Maun are hoping that all this will blow over so that everyone can carry on as normal. This whole accident has been swept under the carpet yet many people couldn't see it coming or did but nothing was done. Wonder what will become of Moremi Air?:ouch: