GAF Nomad
| Nomad | |
|---|---|
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|
| N24A Nomad of the Indonesian Navy | |
| Role | STOL aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Government Aircraft Factories |
| First flight | 23 July 1971 |
| Status | in service |
| Primary users |
Philippine Air Force Australian Army Indonesian National Navy |
| Produced | 1975–1985 |
| Number built | 172 |
The GAF Nomad is a twin-engined turboprop, high-wing, short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft. It was designed and built by the Australian Government Aircraft Factories (GAF) at Fishermens Bend, Melbourne. Major users of the design have included the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, the Australian Army and the Australian Customs Service. The Nomad is to be reengineered and put back into production as the GippsAero GA18.
Development of the Nomad began in 1965 at GAF as Project N. The Australian government funded two prototypes in January 1970 for the twin-engined, multi-purpose transport. The government was keen to build an aircraft in order to maintain aircraft production at GAF after the end of Mirage III production. The first prototype (registered VH-SUP) flew for the first time on 23 July 1971. The aircraft was now known as the N2, and was aimed at the military and civilian markets. The designation N22 was to be used for military aircraft (becoming N22B in production), and N24 was to be used for the lengthened civilian version.
The original design intention was that the entire empennage would be hinged, so that it could be swung open, providing rear-loading access (the target payload was a small vehicle). This necessitated the raised cruciform tail.
The Nomad design was considered problematic and early Royal Australian Air Force evaluations were critical of the design. An early, stretched-fuselage variant crashed, killing GAF's chief test pilot Stuart Pearce (father of actor Guy Pearce), and the assistant chief designer. The Nomad has been involved in a total of 32 total hull-loss accidents, which have resulted in 76 fatalities.
Only 172 Nomads (including the two prototypes) were manufactured, due to the limited foreign sales achieved by GAF. In 1986, GAF was incorporated into Aerospace Technologies of Australia, now Boeing Australia.
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