The seaplanes that will take you for your adventure are a pair of Cessna 208A Caravans equipped with floats. Island Air operate these planes, and are based at Hamilton Island. These planes have one of the best safety records for any fixed wing aircraft in the world, and with more than 1000 of these planes now in production, they are a very reliable and safe way to access the areas of the Coral Sea. Some of the details of the Cessna 208A are as follows:-
- Powerplants: 208 - One 450kW (600shp) Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-114 turboprop driving a three blade variable pitch Hartzell propeller.
- Performance: Max cruising speed 340km/h (184kt). Initial rate of climb 1215ft/min. Range with max fuel, min cargo, and reserves 1797km (970nm).
- Weights: 208A - Empty 1725kg (3800lb), max takeoff 3310kg (7300lb).
- Dimensions: 208A - Wing span 15.88m (52ft 1in), length 11.46m (37ft 7in), height 4.32m (14ft 2in). Wing area 26.0m2 (279.4sq ft).
- Capacity: Pilot and 10 passengers.
- Production: 1000th unit delivered in October 1998. More than 60% of production sold outside the United States.
- History: With sales exceeding the 1000 mark the useful Caravan is a popular utility workhorse worldwide.Design work for the Caravan dates back to the early eighties. First flight of a prototype occurred on December 9 1982 and certification was granted in October 1984. When production began the following year it became the first all new single engine turboprop powered aircraft to achieve production status
 All material copyright Nomad Sportfishing Adventures 2007
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