Experience and the right equipment alone are not enough to ensure successful execution of your airborne geophysical survey. The company must have both the appropriate aerial survey aircraft, experienced crews with a proven history of successful operations and an excellent safety record.
All Metatek aerial survey aircraft are properly modified to correctly house the different gravimeters and other instrumentation we use and to remove magnetic effects. Thus resulting in magnetically quiet aircraft that will maximise the quality of the acquired data.
We have skilled pilots with long track records of successful operational survey flying with experience of surveying on all five continents. Our most experienced pilots have over 15,000 hours flight time and some, including our head of aviation, are designated flight examiners.
At Metatek, our aerial survey aircraft have flown hundreds of thousands of kilometres over four continents to complete gravity gradiometery surveys. This includes surveying over a wide variety of terrains and conditions such as the mountainous areas of South America to extreme heat of the Middle East and everything in between.
For safety reasons, especially when flying over open water, Metatek uses twin engine aircraft when surveying.
Our flagship survey aircraft is a purpose-built DC3T with 8 hours operational endurance and STOL capability for use at remote airstrips. This aircraft has a 100ft wingspan for stability, upgraded avionics, five bladed propellers for smooth operation and over-wing exhaust systems for low acoustic output (< 88Db).
The De Havilland Canada Twin Otter DHC-6 is a twin-engine aircraft with 6.5 hours operational endurance with Pratt and Whitney PT6A-27 turboprops. Its design features include double-slotted trailing-edge flaps and ailerons that work in unison with the flaps to boost STOL performance. This aircraft is fitted with all the required avionics to operate in congested airspace and out of busy international airports.
Metatek uses helicopters when appropriate for aerial surveys where terrain demands their use. Systems are appropriately installed to ensure clean magnetic data.
All rotary and fixed wing aircraft benefit from demagnetisation of airframes and key components.
For more information on any of our aerial survey aircrafts, or to discuss your gravity gradiometry survey, contact the team at Metatek today.
ENGINES: 2 x PT6A-65AR 1230 SHP
PROPELLER: Hartzel HC-B5MP-3C 5 Blade
ENDURANCE: 7.25- 7.5 hours
SURVEY SPEED: 200 – 245 km/hr – 235 km/hr (typical 237 km/hr)
ENGINES: 2 x Pratt and Whitney PT6A-27 turboprops 680 SHP
PROPELLER: 4 Blade
ENDURANCE: 6.25- 6.5 hours
SURVEY SPEED: 200 – 245 km/hr – 235 km/hr (typical 237 km/hr)
