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for Mark let me fly the entire approach to the ground.
Touchdown and landing was cake- walk-easy with the big tires, great vis- ibility and reverse thrust of the PT6. I’m not sure how short exactly my landing roll ended up being, but to give an idea, I stopped mid-field on my first landing after having crossed 100-foot pine trees at the end of the runway. And that was without my really trying to “land short.” Said simply, the STOL characteristics of the Kodiak are impressive.
Having too much fun, I performed approach after approach at the grass strip. I tried them all: short-field technique, with flaps, without flaps, both reverse and no reverse, etc. In every regime of flight, I found the Kodiak behaved predictably. After a while, we shut down at the Flying M to take pictures and talk with owner Dave Mason. Then it was Jimmy’s turn at the helm. I somewhat begrudgingly gave up the front left seat and took a seat in the back.
Loading into the Kodiak as a back-seat passenger is a non-event. There is huge door on the left side of the fuselage, mak-
ing it easy to load just about anything. For the missionary/humanitarian mis- sion, I could see pallets, medical supplies and logistical items easily being loaded. For the outdoorsman, I could envision fit- ting all the necessary equipment needed for a backwoods trip. If you like to “get away,” I can think of no better vehicle to get you, and just about anything you’d ever want to take, there.
Honest Machine
Although I was only looking at the back of Jimmy’s head from my backseat perch, I could see him smiling widely as he took over the flight duties. I’ve flown with Jimmy often at JSO, and I know he’s an excellent pilot. But, he’s still a 500-hour aviator, and I wondered how he would handle the step up into the turbine world. Well, I soon observed Jimmy had no trouble with the transition into the Kodiak. He masterfully flew us back to JSO, handling the airplane like an expe- rienced veteran. My point is that the Ko- diak is powerful and capable, but most of all, predictable. While anyone new to the airplane is going to assuredly go through training to learn the intricacies of the
machine, it is without quirks. It’s an honest machine, doing exactly what you tell it to do. In all, I found it refreshingly simple.
Once Jimmy landed back at JSO, we were met by a second crowd of onlookers. We then said our goodbyes to Mark and gathered to watch the Kodiak takeoff from Runway 32. As I watched the Kodiak fade off into the distance, I sensed that this air- plane is poised to be a strong contender in the ma•rket as more pilots become aware of it and its offerings. While Quest is assur- edly not trying to be the next behemoth in aviation, they are absolutely carving out a solid niche in the single-engine turbine market. T&T
Joe Casey is an FAA-DPE and an ATP, CFI, CFII (A/H), MEI, CFIG, CFIH, as well as a U.S. Army UH-60 standardiza- tion instructor/examiner. An MMOPA Board member, he has been a PA46 in- structor for 16-plus years and has accu- mulated 12,000-plus hours of flight time, 5,500 of which has been in the PA46. Contact Joe at: www.flycasey.com, by email at joe@flycasey.com, or by phone at 903.721.9549.
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August 2018 TWIN & TURBINE • 11