Mission Aviation Fellowship’s newest aircraft, a Quest KODIAK, will soon be on its way to Papua, Indonesia, where it will make life better for people living in remote corners of the jungle.
“This remarkable airplane will be used to deliver food, medicine, building materials, and Bibles,” said John Boyd, president and CEO of Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF). “It will transport medical teams, missionaries, and relief workers. It will carry children to school and the sick to the hospital.”
MAF is a global family of organizations that uses aviation and technology to share the Gospel and support the work of other mission and relief organizations. With a fleet of 132 airplanes, MAF reaches isolated areas of 33 countries.
The plane is now on display at SUN ’n FUN A public dedication ceremony will be held at the MAF display at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 5.
“The KODIAK is an amazing aircraft, and is uniquely suited for MAF’s work in Papua,” said Boyd. “Hundreds of small villages lie hidden in the jungles and mountains of this rugged land. There are very few roads. A 20-minute flight in an MAF airplane saves an entire day of travel by foot.”
MAF now has 13 airplanes in Papua, including four other KODIAKs. For many years the Cessna 206 was the workhorse of the fleet, but in recent years MAF has been replacing the 206s with KODIAKs.
“Avgas is very expensive and difficult to obtain in Indonesia and many of the isolated places MAF works,” Boyd explains. “In some countries we pay as much as $21 per gallon. But the KODIAK runs on jet fuel rather than avgas, and it can use most of the short, rugged airstrips served by the 206. It can fly farther and carry more cargo less expensively. It was created specifically for this kind of work.”
As a non-profit, MAF relies upon many supporters to keep its planes in the air. The new KODIAK was purchased entirely with gifts.