The Cessna 208 Caravan is a utility aircraft produced by Cessna. The project was commenced on November 20, 1981, and the prototype first flew on December 9, 1982. The production model was certified by the FAA in October 1984 and its Cargomaster freighter variant was developed for FedEx. The 4 ft (1.2 m) longer 208B Super Cargomaster first flew in 1986 and was developed into the passenger 208B Grand Caravan.
The Cessna O-1 Bird Dog is a liaison and observation aircraft that first flew on December 14th 1949, and entered service in 1950 as the L-19 in the Korean War. It went to serve in many branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, was not retired until the 1970s in a number of variants, and also served in the Vietnam War. It was also called the OE-1 and OE-2 in Navy service, flying with the Marine Corps, and in the 1960s it was re-designated the O-1. It remains a civilian-flown warbird aircraft, and there are examples in aviation museums. It was the first all-metal fixed-wing aircraft ordered for and by the United States Army following the Army Air Forces' separation from it in 1947. The Bird Dog had a lengthy career in the U.S. military as well as in other countries, with over 3400 produced.
Richard Francis "Dick" Gordon Jr. was an American naval officer and aviator, test pilot, and NASA astronaut, and a football executive. He was one of 24 people to have flown to the Moon, as command module pilot of the Apollo 12 mission, which orbited the Moon 45 times. Gordon had already flown in space as the pilot of the 1966 Gemini 11 mission.
Alan Fletcher is an Australian actor of stage, television and film. He is also a singer and musician.
The Mount Erebus disaster occurred on 28 November 1979 when Air New Zealand Flight 901 (TE901) flew into Mount Erebus on Ross Island, Antarctica, killing all 237 passengers and 20 crew on board. Air New Zealand had been operating scheduled Antarctic sightseeing flights since 1977. This flight was supposed to leave Auckland Airport in the morning and spend a few hours flying over the Antarctic continent, before returning to Auckland in the evening via Christchurch.
Air Chathams Limited is an airline based in the Chatham Islands, New Zealand. It was established in 1984 and operates scheduled passenger services between the Chatham Islands and mainland New Zealand along with routes between Auckland and Whakatāne, and Auckland and Whanganui. Its main base is Chatham Islands / Tuuta Airport.
Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) is a Christian organization that provides aviation, communications, and learning technology services to more than 1,000 Christian and humanitarian agencies, as well as thousands of isolated missionaries and indigenous villagers in the world's most remote areas. There are three major operational centers – Nampa, Idaho, United States, Ashford, United Kingdom, and Cairns, Australia. These centres provide operational support to programs in the Americas, Africa and Asia Pacific regions. In 2010, MAF served in more than 55 countries, flying 201,710 passengers with a fleet of some 130 aircraft.
The GippsAero GA8 Airvan 8 is a single-engined utility aircraft manufactured by GippsAero of Victoria, Australia. It can seat up to eight people, including the pilot.
Norfolk Island Airport, also referred to as Norfolk Island International Airport, is the only airport on Norfolk Island, an external territory of Australia. The island is located in the Pacific Ocean between Australia, New Zealand, and New Caledonia. The airport is operated by the Norfolk Island Regional Council, and is on the west side of the island.
Sounds Air is a New Zealand airline based at Picton. The airline was founded in 1986 by Cliff and Diane Marchant to provide low cost flights to the Marlborough Sounds. The airline has a maintenance facility at Omaka aerodrome with its Sounds Aero Maintenance division based there.
771 Naval Air Squadron of the Fleet Air Arm was formed on 24 May 1939 at HMS Daedalus, Lee-on-Solent as a Fleet Requirements Unit with 14 Fairey Swordfish TSR biplanes. The squadron carried out various exercises with ships and provided towed targets for naval air gunners, and was decommissioned on 22 March 2016.
Penobscot Island Air is a small regional airline based at Knox County Regional Airport, Maine, United States (RKD) operating from a private terminal. The airline operates scheduled service to the islands in Maine's Penobscot Bay and offers private charter land and seaplane flights throughout the region.
Various real-world aircraft have long made significant appearances in fictional works, including books, films, toys, TV programs, video games, and other media.
On 22 December 1978, a small Cessna 188 aircraft, piloted by Jay Prochnow, became lost over the Pacific Ocean. The only other aircraft in the area that was able to assist was a commercial Air New Zealand flight. After several hours of searching, the crew of the Air New Zealand flight located the lost Cessna and led it to Norfolk Island, where the plane landed safely.
Afterburn is a 1992 drama film written and produced for television, based on a true story where one woman takes on the United States military and General Dynamics, manufacturer of the F-16 jet fighter aircraft that took her husband's life. The docudrama starred Laura Dern, Robert Loggia, and Vincent Spano. The film's name is derived from the "Afterburner" bar where the central character, who works as a waitress, met her future husband, a setting that forms the focus of the first part of the film.
Glenorchy Air is a scenic flight and air charter company based at Queenstown Airport, New Zealand. The company was founded by Janet and Robert Rutherford in 1992, with just one aeroplane, a Cessna 185. With the expansion of the business, a second aircraft, a Piper PA-32-300 Cherokee Six, was purchased in 1996. The Cessna 185 was sold in 2003 when it was replaced by a new Gippsland GA8 Airvan. The company took delivery of a second Airvan in 2013 and added two more before the business was sold in 2019.
Flight Nurse is a 1953 American drama war film directed by Allan Dwan and stars Joan Leslie and Forrest Tucker. The film is largely based on the life of Lillian Kinkella Keil, one of the most decorated women in American military history. Flight Nurse begins with the dedication: "This picture is respectfully dedicated to that brave legion of military nurses who are serving with the armed forces of free nations all over the world. These angels of mercy – shoulder to shoulder, share the danger and hardships of free fighting men everywhere, with devotion above and beyond the call of duty."
Alwyn Gordon Vette ONZM was a New Zealand airline captain best known for his involvement in the Cessna 188 Pacific rescue and his research into the cause of the Air New Zealand Flight TE901 crash. He spent five years in the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) and 55 years as a commercial pilot. Vette was portrayed by Roy Billing in the 1988 miniseries Erebus: the Aftermath, which recounts Vette's research into the cause of the Mount Erebus Disaster; and by Robert Loggia in the 1993 TV movie Mercy Mission: the Rescue of Flight 771, which recounts Vette's experiences piloting Air New Zealand Flight 103.
Ravinder Bansal, is an Indian American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and amateur pilot from Clarence, New York. He was the first person of Indian origin to fly around the world solo in a single engine plane.
