Wed, Sep 03, 2008
Waterfowl all over North America may soon have to get used to a
new abut increasingly familiar sight... that of a massive Quest
Aircraft Kodiak Turbo-Prop... and airplane chosen by the US Fish
and Wildlife Service to conduct surveys and monitoring under the
watchful of our department of the Interior, in cooperation with
other affected nations. This aircraft will operate far from home,
often in remote areas and have to cover a lot of ground... and on
land or water, the Kodiak seems like the ideal aircraft for one of
the most demanding missions in the world.
Early in 2008, Quest Aircraft Company delivered its first
customer Kodiak turboprop, to launch depositor Spirit Air...
marking the company's latest step in its transition from an
aircraft developer, to a full-fledged planemaker.
The completed aircraft was delivered to Spirit Air in a
presentation ceremony in late January, at the company’s
headquarters in Sandpoint, ID. Spirit Air was the lead commercial
customer for the Kodiak when the company began taking deposits in
May 2005.
As ANN has reported, the Kodiak received FAA Type Certification
on May 30 of last year. Quest says it continues to work with the
FAA to achieve its production certificate, at which point the
company hopes to make progress against what is currently a
three-year delivery backlog.
Quest states the all-aluminum Kodiak combines superior STOL
performance and high useful load. Powered by a single Pratt &
Whitney PT6 turbine engine, the Kodiak is capable of working off
floats without structural upgrades and has the ability to land on
unimproved surfaces. The Kodiak can take off in under 700 feet at
full gross takeoff weight of 6,750 lbs with a useful load of 3,325
lbs and climb at over 1,700 feet per minute.
A three-screen Garmin G1000 integrated avionics suite is
standard equipment on the Kodiak. Quest notes they were the first
installation in a turboprop aircraft of the popular G1000 (Cessna
has since followed with its own G1000 installation in the
Caravan.)
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