• Western Australia Police Air Wing's new GA8 at Pearce, still to get its new livery. (WA Police)
    Western Australia Police Air Wing's new GA8 at Pearce, still to get its new livery. (WA Police)
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Western Australia’s Police Air Wing has taken delivery of a new GippsAERO GA8 to replace their ageing C182.

The new aircraft has been integrated with a range of electronics to be used to facilitate surveillance, and operational equipment focused for drug searching, photography, flood/cyclone relief, search and rescue and special missions.

The equipment is mounted within a readily demountable, RF-transparent fairing that bears a close resemblance to the standard GA cargo pod. This enables such devices to be discreetly packaged in a manner that is considered desirable by specialist operators.

Pilot, Brevet Sergeant Warren Green, commented that the new Airvan can carry twice the payload of the Cessna 182 it replaces for the same operating cost.

 “The extra space and payload means the Airvan can be fitted with extra equipment, making it more operationally effective,” he commented. “There’s room to accommodate a FLIR (forward looking infra-red) camera which has been extremely successful in use by our helicopter, and means that this new aircraft will further increase Air Wing’s capacity in the skies.”

Officer in Charge of the WA Police Air Wing, Peter Scott said the Airvan would give them greater coverage of their huge state.

“Because of the size of Western Australia, we have always operated a small single engine fixed wing aircraft in our fleet. The introduction of the Airvan however, increases that capability significantly because of the payload now available. The greatest benefit however is the flexibility to put in specialised mission role equipment that is essential to a contemporary police aviation operation.”

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