Oz told me to post this here - Flying in PNG.

I posted this on the Australia branch yesterday and it has been suggested to me that you lot may wish to see it as well.

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/planetalking/2011/04/10/kokoda-insights/

Thanks Groo, and welcome to the islands.

Interesting, thanks for posting. I'm a white-knuckle flier, especially in small planes such as Islanders; can handle Twin Otters moderately better, but not much, when flying around Solomon Islands, somewhat less mountainous than PNG.

I've spent some time as a passenger in twin otters in Alaska. The twin Otter is built like a tank and hard to beat for commuter operations on short strips and will probably be around for a long time. The Caravan has some mods available that beef up it's performance, but it still won't match the Otter. In this case newer is not better.

For single-engine airplanes I favor a floatplane over a wheel plane. I flew one in Alaska for twenty years. In an emergency, the combination of being able to land on water or land can be a lifesaver. And if you have to put it down on unfriendly terrain, there's a lot of iron under you to help absorb the impact.