Quest Aircraft’s Kodiak single-engine turboprop cargo aircraft, designed to help missionaries haul heavy loads to unimproved bush country airstrips, has FAA approval for the TKS ice protection system. CAV Aerospace makes the system.
The TKS system is now on three Kodiak aircraft and allows for flight into known icing.
“Since receiving our type certification in 2007, we have continued to work on enhancements and improvements to the Kodiak,” said Paul Schaller, Quest Aircraft’s President and CEO. “Ice protection is an option that many of our customers have been looking forward to having available to them and we are very pleased that the system is now certified, especially as we move into the winter flying months.”
The system releases a measured amount of glycol-based ice protection fluid through precision laser-drilled microscopic holes in titanium wing leading edges, along with a dispersion mechanism for propellers.
A Pratt and Whitney PT6 turbine engine powers the Kodiak. It can take off in less than 1,000 feet at a full gross takeoff weight of 7,255 pounds, and climb at more than 1,300 feet per minute. A three-panel Garmin G1000 integrated avionics suite including Synthetic Vision Technology is standard equipment.
The Kodiak is a 10-place single engine turboprop utility airplane, designed for short takeoff and landing use, and can be mounted on floats.
Alton K. Marsh
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