S/N002 Will Be First Customer Delivery

Quest Aircraft told ANN Friday of the successful first flight of S/N002, the second production Kodiak turboprop to take to the skies. The aircraft, which will be delivered to the customer early next month, flew for about an hour on Tuesday, November 6. S/N002 joins S/N001 and the Kodiak prototype in the fleet, as work on the production line continues to accelerate.

"The successful flight of our second production airplane is another milestone for the Kodiak program," said Paul Schaller, Quest Aircraft’s President and CEO. "This has been a remarkable year for Quest and we couldn’t have come this far without a lot of hard work and dedication on the part of everyone involved with the Kodiak program."

Piloted by Quest's Chris Klynstra, the aircraft took off at 1400 local time, flew to altitude and was put through its paces. Quest says the flight went exactly as planned, with no surprises.

Follow-up work on the aircraft is continuing, including installation of the interior. The aircraft will feature the 10-place Tundra interior.

As ANN reported, the Kodiak received FAA Type Certification on May 30. Quest says it continues to work the FAA to achieve its production certificate. The company reports a three-year order backlog, with interest from such market segments as personal use, Part 135 operations, government, and humanitarian organizations.

The aluminum-bodied Kodiak sports a Pratt & Whitney PT6 turbine engine, is capable of working off floats without structural upgrades and has the ability to land on unimproved surfaces. Quest says the Kodiak can take off in under 700 feet at full gross takeoff weight of 6,750 lbs with a useful load of 3,450 lbs and climb at over 1,700 feet per minute.

The Garmin G1000 integrated avionics suite is standard equipment on the Kodiak. Quest notes its G1000 was the first-such system installed in a turboprop aircraft; Cessna recently announced it, too, will offer the G1000 in its own Caravan single-engine turboprop.

FMI: www.questaircraft.com