Latest MAF plane on display at Duxford

Also at Duxford was MAF Co-founder, Stuart King, who was Chief Technical Officer at the base when it was an active RAF station, under the famous Battle of Britain pilot, Wing Commander Alan Deere. Stuart was able to visit his old office and was asked to speak about his time there and the work of MAF to several thousand people gathered for the afternoon’s flying display.

Thanks to a generous donation by AFD Software Ltd, the Kodiak will join MAF’s fleet of light aircraft which have been flying in some of the world’s remotest areas for 60 years. Today, over 120 small aircraft reach into isolated places to bring vital help and basic services to some of the world’s poorest people.

Designed by Quest with input from MAF and other humanitarian organisations, the Kodiak carries a larger payload and runs on jet fuel, which, compared with scarce avgas is more readily available and much less expensive. This ensures the reliability and cost efficiency of flights to various regions globally.

Following its tour of the UK, the Kodiak will be flown to Kalimantan, Indonesia where it will join MAF’s fleet of 7 aircraft already there. With dense rain forests, mountains and rivers, many parts of Kalimantan remain isolated. People have little or no access to basic facilities such as healthcare and education. MAF has been flying in Kalimantan since 1969.

 

David Dorricott, MD and one of the founders of AFD, explains: ‘MAF is providing the only access for supplies and medical and health services in many of the world's poorest and most remote places. However the cost of providing the Avgas fuel for many of these aircraft, and the difficulties even of obtaining it, have been causing enormous problems for the operators.

 

‘When we learned that a brand new, purpose-designed bush aircraft had been developed - with higher payload and range - and the benefit of running on much cheaper and more readily available Jet A1 fuel, we were really excited,’ says David.

 

MAF CEO Ruth Whitaker comments: ‘The Kodiak is ideally suited to the rugged, mountainous terrain of Kalimantan. We are extremely grateful for this gift which will help support the local communities and will make a real difference to the lives of the people there.’