Turboprops

Get a closer look at the Quest Kodiak, an airplane that is making a name for itself in the backcountry.

In 2010, I traveled to Haiti to deliver medical supplies in the aftermath of the powerful earthquake that leveled much of the area in and around impoverished Port-au-Prince. It was no surprise that the crew of a Quest Kodiak beat me there. After all, the Kodiak was created to serve as a primary workhorse for […]

A new Texas company called Mallard Aircraft says it plans to bring the Turbine Mallard back into production more than 40 years after the original PT6-powered amphibian first took to the skies. The newly produced Turbine Mallard would use a pair of Pratt & Whitney PT6A engines and modern Rockwell Collins avionics, according to the […]

Wheels Up, the newly launched membership-based private aviation company based on a fleet of King Air 350i twin turboprops, has taken delivery of its first airplane and selected Gama Charters of Stratford, Connecticut, to operate its U.S.-based fleet. Beechcraft will maintain all the King Airs in the Wheels Up fleet, which will be staged at […]

Nextant and GE are collaborating on a new turboprop twin — the G90XT announced at the NBAA Convention in Las Vegas. Like Nextant’s 400XTi, the turboprop adds new technology to a refurbished airframe, in this case the King Air C90. Nextant is adding brand new GE H80 engines, Garmin G1000 avionics and a new cabin […]

The FAA and EASA have signed off on the type certification for a five-bladed Hartzell propeller specifically designed to improve the performance of Daher-Socata’s TBM 700 and 850 single-engine turboprops. The composite propeller has a thin, swept airfoil that Hartzell claims improves takeoff acceleration, climb rates and cruise speeds, while producing less noise than the […]

Sunstate Aviation in Phoenix took delivery of the 100th Quest Kodiak turboprop single last week. In a ceremony at Kodiak’s factory in Sandpoint, Idaho, Quest CEO Sam Hill said, “Since the beginning, we have been committed to building a rugged, reliable aircraft that provides operators the versatility to accomplish any mission.” Sunstate founder Mike Watts […]

Beechcraft celebrated this week as the production version of the new AT-6 Texan II light attack airplane completed its first flight in Wichita. “It flies beautifully,” Lionel Alford, one of the test pilots of the inaugural flight, said after the successful mission. “This achievement highlights the tremendous effort of the entire Beechcraft team involved in […]

Kestrel Aircraft’s CEO and president Alan Klapmeier and the company’s COO and executive vice president of product development Steve Serfling provided an update to the media on the Kestrel single-engine turboprop project in a press conference at AirVenture. Klapmeier said he had hoped to be able to announce full funding for the Kestrel turboprop program […]

Wipaire has received FAA approval for the Wipline 8750 floats for the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan and Grand Caravan EX. This is the first time Wipaire has achieved certification for floats for the Grand Caravan. The new floats allow operators to fly with a gross weight as high as 9,062 pounds. The Wipline 8750 floats […]