US Fish and Wildlife Service Chooses The Kodiak To Monitor Waterfowl Populations Waterfowl all over North America may soon have to get used to a new but increasingly familiar sight... that of a massive Quest Aircraft Kodiak Turbo-Prop... an airplane chosen by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to conduct surveys and monitoring under the watchful eye of our Department of the Interior, in cooperation with other affected nations. This aircraft will operate far from home, often in remote areas and have to cover a lot of ground... and on land or water, the Kodiak seems like the ideal aircraft for one of the most demanding missions in the world. Early in 2008, Quest Aircraft Company delivered its first customer Kodiak turboprop, to launch depositor Spirit Air... marking the company's latest step in its transition from an aircraft developer, to a full-fledged planemaker. The completed aircraft was delivered to Spirit Air in a presentation ceremony in late January, at the company’s headquarters in Sandpoint, ID. Spirit Air was the lead commercial customer for the Kodiak when the company began taking deposits in May 2005. As ANN has reported, the Kodiak received FAA Type Certification on May 30 of last year. Quest says it continues to work with the FAA to achieve its production certificate, at which point the company hopes to make progress against what is currently a three-year delivery backlog. Quest states the all-aluminum Kodiak combines superior STOL performance and high useful load. Powered by a single Pratt & Whitney PT6 turbine engine, the Kodiak is capable of working off floats without structural upgrades and has the ability to land on unimproved surfaces. The Kodiak can take off in under 700 feet at full gross takeoff weight of 6,750 lbs with a useful load of 3,325 lbs and climb at over 1,700 feet per minute. A three-screen Garmin G1000 integrated avionics suite is standard equipment on the Kodiak. Quest notes they were the first installation in a turboprop aircraft of the popular G1000 ...
