Engineering design began in 1999, while the company organization was being finalized. The design was type certified by the US Federal Aviation Administration on 31 May 2007. In June 2010, Wipaire, Inc. was granted Supplemental Type Certification allowing Wipline 7000 amphibious floats to be installed on Kodiaks. In November of that same year, it was also certified for flight into known icing after the installation of a TKS system, which protects exposed surfaces via glycol-based fluids. In 2014, an executive "Summit interior" with club seating was introduced. In April 2017, the Kodiak received its type certificate from the European Aviation Safety Agency. In May 2018, Quest Aircraft unveiled the Series II, priced at $2.15 million. The airframe has improved cargo door step mechanism and wing-root sealing, new crew-door stays, optional single-point refueling, and new paint schemes. The cockpit has compact backup instruments, a faster Garmin G1000 NXi with HSI map displaying traffic, terrain, weather, navaids, and obstacles and an multifunction display showing terrain, usable for weight and balance and permitting autopilot visual approaches. In 2019, French aircraft manufacturer Daher acquired Quest Aircraft from Setouchi Holdings.
Design
The utility aircraft can accommodate 10 people. It features short-field capability and good useful load. Its STOL performance comes from a fixed, discontinuous leading edge on the outboard wing and the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-34 turboprop engine. Passenger seats are track-mounted and removable, it has access doors for the pilots and the aft clamshell door, with automatic steps, allows cargo loading or eight passengers boarding. The Kodiak's aluminum fuselage can be repaired in the field and offers a cargo door. Optional Aerocet carbon-fiber floats can be fitted and weigh with wheels or without wheels, lighter than aluminum floats while cruising faster and are more watertight. The Aerocet floats can be operated in waves. The Kodiak Series II is more refined and has upgraded door and wing root seals to reduce wind leaks and exhaust odors. The model's upgraded Garmin G1000NXi avionics are similar to the original G1000 with three 10 inch screens, but is more responsive and offers more PFD insets, including a mini moving map, which can display traffic, terrain, waypoints and weather. The Kodiak is bigger than the DHC-2 Beaver, but smaller than the DHC-3 Otter or Cessna Caravan. It has more power than the older de Havillands and takes off in less distance than the Caravan.
Operational history
The first Kodiak was delivered to launch customer Spirit Air in January 2008. By September 2013, 100 Kodiaks had been built, with the 100th aircraft being delivered to US operator Sunstate Aviation. The Kodiak was designed for use by mission societies, and several aircraft have been delivered to organisations such as Mission Aviation Fellowship and JAARS. Some of the Kodiaks built have been produced under Quest Aircraft's Quest Mission Team program. The QMT program aims to sell one of every 11 Kodiaks built to a mission organisation at cost price. The 200th aircraft was delivered in December 2016 for a record yearly production of 36 Kodiaks, while the production facility was extended by 25% in September to cope with growing demand. The 250th was delivered in 2018, as the highest time aircraft surpassed 5,000 hours.
Variants
;Kodiak 100 ;Kodiak 100 Series II ;Air Claw
Operators
The largest single order was announced on 15 November 2016 for 20 aircraft from Sky Trek, to be delivered within a year. Tokyo-based Sky Trek plans to begin air charter services in the first half of 2017 and is a start-up membership-based operator owned by Mitsui and Setouchi Holdings. Setouchi was the Quest dealer for Japan and purchased Quest Aircraft in 2015. In November 2017, 220 Quest Kodiaks are flying worldwide as freighters, for skydiving and as business aircraft. India's SpiceJet intends to buy 100 amphibious Kodiaks, a $400 million deal. It has applied for financial support from Narendra Modi as part of the national aviation expansion program UDAN for connecting its population by air, despite limited infrastructure. As only 3% of Indians travel by air, it is hoped that the Kodiak will stimulate air travel by operating from waterways and unimproved runways. The aircraft has been demonstrated as a landplane and seaplane demonstrations will happen next. Aerocet carbon-fiber amphibious floats are a $400,000 option.
