Deployed In Collaboration With Recreational Aviation Foundation

Daher Aircraft flew its “go anywhere” Kodiak 100 multi-role aircraft into some of the most challenging and remote backcountry airstrips in the Pacific Northwest to assist the U.S. Forest Service in a collaborative project with the Recreational Aviation Foundation.

The Kodiak 100 was utilized to transport equipment and personnel from the USFS along with RAF volunteers to a total of seven locations across Idaho. The flights were staged out of Moose Creek Ranger Station airstrip (1U1) and involved 14 landings at backcountry locations that serve as critical access points for the USFS to conduct forest health monitoring, firefighting, search & rescue, and recreational oversight operations.

Nicolas Chabbert, Daher CEO, was speaking to journalists today at the NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE) in Las Vegas, Nevada. He said, “Our Kodiak aircraft family is uniquely designed to meet the rigorous demands of such deployments, bringing short takeoff and landing performance, robust cargo capacity and excellent low-speed handling qualities together with rugged reliability.”

The Kodiak’s large cabin played an important role in the project. It is easily reconfigurable by removing and reinstalling the passenger seats to accommodate either personnel or cargo. The four-day deployment involved carrying USFS contract engineers or RAF volunteers, and a total of 12 firepits weighing about 80 pounds each.

Airstrip surveys, surface condition assessments, and firepit deliveries were conducted from Moose Creek field base to Cayuse Creek (C64), Dixie (A05), Fish Lake (S92), Magee (S77), Orogrande (75C), and Wilson Bar (C48).

Paul Carelli, Daher Aircraft Senior Director of Multi-Mission Aircraft and Business Development for the Americas said, “These 10-seat turboprop-powered airplanes are in the 7,000-8,000-lb. maximum takeoff weight categories, and they handle such 1,500-foot airstrips as Wilson Bar with no problem. The Kodiak 100 and Kodiak 900 carry much higher payloads into the backcountry than smaller aircraft, and there are no others in their category that can match them.”

Daher Aircraft is attending the NBAA Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition, running from October 14-16 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The company is exhibiting its TBM 960 and Kodiak 100 in the static display area of Henderson Executive Airport (HND), Exhibit #AC23.

FMI:  www.daher.com/