Quest Kodiak: Airplane on a Mission

Isabel Goyer

Friday, February 27, 2009 at 10:00 AM ET

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Quest Kodiak [Credit: Paul Bowen]

Key Takeaways:

The Quest Kodiak is a rugged turboprop single aircraft primarily designed for mission aviation and demanding bush operations, excelling at hauling heavy loads into and out of short, unimproved airstrips.
It features a powerful 750 shp PT6 engine, a high power-to-weight ratio for excellent short-field performance, durable construction for harsh environments, and a versatile interior adaptable for both passengers and cargo, complemented by modern Garmin G1000 avionics.
Quest Aircraft operates with a unique business model where mission groups help finance development and receive discounted planes, with retail sales subsidizing humanitarian efforts, demonstrating a commercially viable aircraft with a strong social purpose.

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It was a cruddy day to go mountain flying. A ragged gray overcast stretched over Western Washington State, high enough to make for good VFR under the deck near Spokane, but it promised to be a more complicated journey to the east, where the spine of the Bitterroots juts out, rising to 10,000 feet at the highest peaks.

I was finally right where I’d wanted to be for the past couple of years, sitting in the left seat of the big Kodiak, a new turboprop single from a startup company that’s focused not so much on the bottom line as on helping others.