Page 7 - Volume 17 Number 1

klike LED nav lights, circuit breakers, and switches are easily changed out.Certification is to the latest standards of FAR Part 23, Amendments 55-59. The seats, for instance, meet 21-23G crashworthiness criteria.The Kodiak’s wingspan is 45 feet, with 240 square feet of area, using three degrees of dihedral. Uncomplicated single-slotted electric Fowler-type flaps roll out on six massive external tracks. The wing has a discontinuous leading edge, providing extra aerodynamic flow control over the outboard portion, with flow fences on the ends of the aileron surfaces. Vortex generators are also installed atop thewing and horizontal tail. Pitot masts are on both wings, and two landing lights are outboard on each wing, fitted with a Pulselight attention- getting system.Fuel is contained in wet-wing tanks, managed as one tank per side, although there are two filler openings; the inboard fillers provide 180 gallons for partial loading, or one can top off at the outboard ports for a total of 320 gallons. A handy pull-down “dripstick” under the wing measures fuel up to 500 pounds (75 gallons) in each tank.For flight into known icing, a TKS anti-icing fluid-dispersal system can be ordered. On the other end of the temperature spectrum, an optionalengine-driven air-conditioning system will chill the cabin; Thomas related the time he taxied out in the tropics with a heat-soaked 135-degree F. cabin and had it down to 77 degrees at the end of his taxi.Up front, a 96-inch diameter Hartzell four-blade propeller provides 19 inches of ground clearance, minimizing erosion. The reverse-flow path of PT6A induction air places the exhaust well forward; the outlets direct exhaust downward and outboard. The cowling unlatches to swing up on either side for easy preflight access to the rear of the engine; dual sealed lead-acid batteries are used, rather than Ni-Cads. Although the free- turbine design of the PT6A makesJANUARY 2013TWIN & TURBINE • 5a