When you think of plane makers, you probably think of the big ones like Boeing and Airbus.
But there's a Hamilton company making its own useful mark on the world of aviation. Pacific Aerospace has sold more than a hundred planes all over the world, and many of them are carrying out vital services.
The planes built at Pacific Aerospace have their own quirky look. But they're designed that way for good reason.
"What makes us unique is our ability to lift a huge amount of weight off an incredibly short, unprepared strip and deliver that weight," says Pacific Aerospace general manager Steve Peters. "It's payload -- and payload is dollars, and dollars is revenue."
The company prides itself on delivering a top quality workhorse of an aircraft -- a plane suited to daily use.
"The story about the aircraft when it gets there is about what it does which is about delivering medivac, delivering medical supplies, delivering building supplies to remote villages in PNG but critically also bringing produce back out of those villages to markets so that the villages can earn hard currency," says Mr Peters.
Right now Pacific Aerospace has three of these P-750 aircraft ready to head off to destinations around the world.
One will be used in Papua New Guinea to distribute aid, while another is going to China for agricultural and survey purposes.
And one is off to Poland to be used by a skydive company. They were so desperate for one, they crowdfunded to raise the money.
The P-750 aircraft will use what's called ferry tanks to fly all the way from New Zealand to Poland, meaning their customers will get their planes in a matter of 8-10 days, rather than 8-10 weeks on a ship.
Door to door delivery -- just another service Pacific Aerospace offers.
Newshub.
