I’m hanging out with photographer Jeff Berlin and Quest’s chief demo pilot Mark Brown beside the stunning Green River, which through the millennia has carved a deep gorge flanked by dramatic red rock cliff walls through Canyonlands National Park in Utah. The river begins at the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming and feeds into the great Colorado River, which snakes through another rock cathedral — Arizona’s Grand Canyon. We’ve parked at Mineral Canyon (UT75), a 2,000-foot dirt airstrip in a remote location that would take several hours to get to by ground transportation. The nearest town is Moab, home to a little more than 5,000 permanent residents and thousands of tourists from all over the world in search of the outstanding mountain biking, rafting, hiking and other outdoor recreational activities the area offers. From the Canyonlands Field Airport (CNY), west of Moab, where we started our day, this stunning spot can be reached by air in not hours but minutes, and a local company called Redtail Air uses the strip for sightseeing and to bring rafters to and from the river, Redtail’s director of air ops Nick Lamoureux says.
We Fly: The Kodiak 100 Series II Is Built To Do It All
Key Takeaways:
- The Quest Kodiak 100 Series II is a highly versatile single-engine turboprop aircraft specifically engineered for demanding backcountry operations on unimproved airstrips.
- It features the reliable Pratt & Whitney PT6A-34 engine, advanced Garmin G1000 NXi avionics, and robust design elements like high propeller clearance and optional large tires for rough terrain.
- The aircraft offers exceptional utility with a highly configurable interior, easily removable seats that can fit in an optional cargo pod, and a large airstair door, making it suitable for passenger, cargo, and specialized missions.
- Pilots appreciate its benign slow-speed handling and stall characteristics, which inspire confidence in challenging environments, alongside respectable performance even at high density altitudes.
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