Avionics News May 2015 - 30

MISSION AVIATION FELLOWSHIP
Continued from page 28

that communicate through the low-Earth orbit Iridium satellite
constellation or Inmarsat's geosynchronous satellites.
A more pressing need, he said, is a 300- to 400-hp diesel
engine for MAF's fleet of Cessna 206s. Avgas is hard to get,
according to Dyk, and it is expensive. Its availability is one
reason MAF started converting its fleet from 206s to turboprop Cessna Caravans and, more recently, Quest Kodiaks. In
Africa, the per-hour fuel costs for the 206s and the turboprops
is the same, but the Caravans and Kodiaks carry three times
as much, "and they have those nice big doors," Dyk said.
Today, MAF is flying roughly 40 206s, and about a dozen
Caravans and roughly a dozen Kodiaks. It's also flying four
Cessna 182s with SMA diesel engines, which can carry "two
people and their luggage," Dyk said. Rather than selling all of
its 206s, MAF is mothballing some of them in Nampa. Their
wings removed and shipped home in a container, a half dozen
are stored in racks, awaiting the certification of a viable diesel
engine, so they can resume their overseas missions.
The Kodiak introduced the Garmin G1000 to the jungle. This
hot, humid, rugged operational environment initially concerned
Dyk, but "we went for two years and didn't have one box
completely fail." The technology has been so reliable that MAF
is in the process of upgrading its steam-gauge turboprops with
Garmin G600 packages, and it has installed some Aspen glass in

other airplanes, as well. "Our goal is to install them so well that
we won't have any wiring problems for 10 years," Dyk said.
"You do a good job, use good equipment, and the high quality
of today's avionics is what makes it work."
When a component does fail, it's replaced, not repaired;
this has changed the travel requirements for Dyk and his two
technicians. Rather than spare parts, "our problem now is
shipping, customs and reconfiguring the replacement box."
The avionics OEMs have done an excellent job in their
how-to descriptions, so most of the pilot-mechanics are up
to configuration task. Still, when these individuals rotate
through Nampa between assignments, "we latch on to those
who show an interest and aptitude for avionics and give
them a short course, because our goal is to have one of them
at every program."
During the past decade, Dyk has become the troubleshooting conduit between the OEMs and the pilot-mechanics in the field, and email is his primary form of communication. What hasn't changed is the paperwork and meeting
the Federal Aviation Administration or applicable International Civil Aviation Organization standards. But challenges
remain. Dyk returned a few months ago from Namibia,
where he was upgrading a Caravan that didn't even have
TAWS. "There's a worldwide requirement for the system,
but Angola (where the airplane operates) didn't know about
it, so they didn't enforce it. I had 10 days to tear out the old
and put in the new." q

The Quest Kodiak
introduced the Garmin
G1000 to the jungle.
The small keypad next
to the yoke controls
the Codan NGT highfrequency radio, which
is standard equipment
on MAF aircraft.

Photo by S.M. Spangler

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