On a Mission: Using Aircraft for Peace in the Aftermath of war

Mission Aviation Fellowship has grown to become the world's largest humanitarian air service, operating in more than 25 low-income countries across the world in 2024. 

Among its early pioneers, RAF Engineer Officer and D-Day survivor Stuart King met pilots Squadron Leader Jack Hemmings and Flight Lieutenant Murray Kendon in London to assess the needs in Africa. WASP pilot Betty King spearheaded MAF from the US into South America, and former Liberator pilot Harry Hartwig joined forces with Flight Lieutenant Trevor Strong in Australia and New Zealand to survey the mountainous jungles of Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Between them, MAF rallied early support across the continents to purchase three aircraft: a Miles M.65 Gemini in London, a Waco UIC Standard Cabin biplane in California and an Auster Autocar in Melbourne. Each model had strengths and drawbacks for the team’s pioneering aviation challenges.

Early Fleet: Underpowered, Under Resourced

The Waco biplane proved an excellent performer, fitted with a brand-new 220hp Continual R-670 engine, which afforded enough power to easily reach 13,000 ft and carry heavy freight in the rugged Andes mountains. Yet sadly, without any personnel qualified to undertake major repairs, an accident in March 1946 saw American pilot Nate Sait embark on an epic trek into the heart of Mexico. He spent eight long months overhauling the Waco, only to fly it back to California where it sold for a meagre $500.

The wooden Miles Gemini – described by King as an ‘altogether beautiful little aircraft’, was advertised to be the safest light aircraft on the market, and was considered sleek, modern and robust in 1947.

But its sturdiness would be put to the test when, after six- months of arduous survey flying across at least 80 rural African outposts, Hemmings began a steep climb in the mountains of Burundi. Caught in a powerful downdraught, the Gemini wing clipped a banana tree and became a pile of matchsticks.

Somehow King and Hemmings climbed out unscathed, fortuitously collected by a priest on a motorbike who came armed with a first aid kit of bandages and bottle of brandy, having seen an ominous spire of smoke rising from the valley below.

Initially operated successfully as an Army cooperation aircraft during WWII; the Autocar demonstrated ruggedness and suitability as a bush aircraft. Yet it became evident that the ‘hot and high’ conditions of New Guinea would require more power than its 130hp de Havilland Gipsy Major I engine could afford.

It struggled to reach its advertised ceiling of 11,000ft with a 650lb payload, and had a very disappointing climb rage of 350ft/min. Tragically, Hartwig lost his life attempting to cross the Asaroka Pass into Centra New Guinea in 1951 before any upgrades could be made.

Growing the Service

Having proven the desperate need for a flight service across isolated locations with little or no road access, MAF began to put down its roots in central Africa, Asia Pacific and South America during the 1950s and 60s.

The deaths of Nate Saint and his comrades in Ecuador hit international headlines in 1956, touching hearts with a message of hope, peace and progress – which remain at the core of MAF’s mission today.

King and Hemmings established MAF’s first African programme in Sudan (now South Sudan) with newly arrived South African pilot Steve Stevens DFC – having purchased a de Havilland DH.89 Rapide with all its elegant struts and wires. Built for the RAF and able to carry up to eight passengers, the Rapide was greatly superior to the Gemini.

However, the unforgiving flying conditions and lack of effective hangarage meant the Rapide was exposed to all that the harsh climate could throw at it, and its wooden fabric and skins were all seriously compromised over time.

When Cessna introduced its C180 model in 1953, MAF turned its attention towards the dependability and practicality of the consummate bush-flying manufacturer, which comprises 80% of its fleet to this day.

Betty Greene delivered MAF’s first C180 to Sudan in 1958, with King, his wife Phyllis and their two young children on board for its long ferry flight from London Heathrow. In his book Hope has Wings, King recalled drying nappies over their knees in the hot air which blew into the cabin as they followed the Nile south into Sudan.

Turbulent Times

Seismic changes occurred across many African nations who gained freedom from colonial rule during the 1960s and 70s, which presented opportunities for MAF to meet acute needs and expand its services. Able to offer flight logistics and technical support for fledgling governments and NGOs who began to launch development initiatives, MAF established operations in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Chad, the DR Congo, Lesotho and South Africa, with requests flooding in for additional support.

But with independence came vehement struggles for power and the beginning of a long, bloody chapter marred by conflict and instability across Africa. MAF’s work was difficult, painstaking and sometimes dangerous – with emergency evacuations becoming commonplace in the absence of reliable roads or medical facilities in many remote areas.

As word about MAF spread, offices began to open across Europe to help raise awareness, support and assist young pilots and engineers keen to join the expanding mission. Skilled aviators from the Netherlands, UK, Switzerland and Nordics signed up to serve MAF in Europe, with others supporting from Canada and South Africa. 

The fleet gained the capabilities of additional Cessna models including the U206 Stationair and 185 Skywagon; with the number of aircraft increasing to double figures worldwide.

In Asia Pacific, new opportunities opened across Indonesia, and an amphibious Cessna aircraft was used to establish a programme in Kalimantan and Papua – acting as an air-ambulance for communities cut off by vast waterways.

A Global Awareness Campaign

As crippling famine swept across central Africa in the early 1980s, a widespread disaster response effort was triggered and history books were written. Few people realise it was an MAF pilot – Keith Ketchum – who flew Bob Geldof, Michael Buerk and the BBC 19 times to broadcast first-seen footage of dying babies and fly-covered corpses in Ethiopia in 1984. Keith still works with MAF to this day.

Overnight, money began pouring in at an unprecedented rate to help those who were starving to death. As the UN warned that 150 million faced starvation, Live Aid filled Wembley Stadium in London and JFK in Pennsylvania to reach a global audience of 1.9 billion – 40% of the world’s population. The aircraft was at the heart of a global awakening.

Transforming the development landscape and shining a spotlight on unprecedented needs, the Live Aid movement – for all its scrutiny – has created a humanitarian community that is now a professional, multi-million-dollar sector relied upon by countless communities.

MAF is privileged to be the largest not- for-profit airline to serve its growing network of highly effective NGOs and continues to partner with more than 1,500 organisations to deliver aid cargo, medical equipment and relief personnel into some of the hardest-to-reach places on earth.

Today

Tragically, in 2024, there are still countless communities facing acute hunger, poverty and isolation in Africa and beyond; with 25 million people in Sudan alone on the brink of starvation as a result of violent civil war. 

The catastrophic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, political unrest and climate change have the greatest impact on the world’s most isolated, and many aid agencies still struggle to reach those cut off from electricity, medicine and education.

MAF’s fleet now operates 117 aircraft; its backbone being the Cessna 208 Caravan family of aircraft, with more than 40 currently in service around the world. The majority of MAF’s C208s are the ‘stretched’ Grand Caravan variant (208B), which can carry 13 passengers or up to a tonne of cargo.

With large loading doors at the rear of the cabin, bulky items such as building materials, small vehicles or even stretchers can be loaded and flown over large distances. MAF’s Caravans are modified to make them more suitable for continual use on unprepared airstrips and withstand some of the most challenging flying conditions in the world. 

Strengthened axles with larger wheels and tyres are fitted; mudguards and tyre scrapers are added; the nose-wheel leg is lengthened to improve propeller clearance on uneven ground and the cargo door frame is reinforced with stainless steel strips. It is known as MAF’s workhorse of the skies.

MAF is staffed by a dedicated army of 1,400 professionals – 75% of them from local communities. Reaching over 1,000 remote and challenging locations – mainly served by grass or dirt strips sculpted on the side of mountains or deep in jungle clearings, MAF flies to more destinations than any other commercial airline.

In 2023, MAF transported 4.3 million kg of cargo and more than 135,000 passengers; with an aircraft taking off or landing every six minutes somewhere in a hidden corner of the planet.

More information: www.maf-uk.org