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Kodiak 100 Series III
First Time Flying the STOL Turboprop by Deanna Wallace
Ihave a problem I have been work- ing on over the years – the art of saying “no.” As a corporate pilot and flight instructor, I spend a consid-
erable amount of time in the air and get very few calendar days off. When I do manage to get a day off, only the most interesting activities will derail me from my well-laid plans for the day – such was the case recently.
I received a phone call from Joe Casey, a friend and industry peer, with a scheduling conflict that he hoped I could help him resolve. Joe is one of those pilots who can simply fly anything, and as such, he gets the opportunity to fly and write about many different aircraft types. From this phone call, I learned he had such an opportunity, but it con- flicted with another flying obligation on his calendar. When he asked if I had a day free, I fully expected him totrytopawnhistripoffonmeso he could stay home to demo this air- craft, but instead, he offered me the opportunity to f ly something I had
6 • TWIN & TURBINE / September 2021
never flown and he thought I would enjoy – the Daher Kodiak 100. I eagerly agreed to the f light.
First Impressions
Mark Brown, chief demo pilot and Kodiak sales director, showed up at our east Texas location with a beau- tiful, glossy, grey and black painted Kodiak. As I made my way to where it was parked, the first thing that struck me was the prop being in the “wrong” position for a PT6 engine. Typically, when a PT6 is shut down, the propeller stops in the feathered position due to the loss of oil pressure. This propel- ler was clearly not feathered, looking much more like a TPE-331 (or Garrett, if you prefer) engine on the ramp. I noted the oddity and added it to my list of questions to ask Mark when he caught up to me walking around the aircraft. It turns out that pitch-latch propellers are standard equipment on the Kodiak 100 Series III PT6A- 34 engines. The airplane requires no modifications if adding f loats to the
PHOTO COURTESY OF SEABREE BROWN
aircraft, allowing operators to maneu- ver around docks more easily.
Having a seaplane rating but no turbine seaplane experience, I found this information highly interesting. As a pilot and longtime flight instructor, I love gaining new knowledge and am often reminded, “you don’t know what you don’t know.” As I contin- ued my walkaround, I noted the Ko- diak boasts extra-large cabin access doors, additional cargo space in the pod under the belly of the aircraft, and two separate cockpit entry doors. Suddenly, the King Air I regularly fly felt like a small, confined space, and I wondered how I ever managed to fit a piece of luggage through its single, airstair entry door.
More than patient with me and oth- ers who had wandered over to admire the aircraft up close, Mark answered questions and talked about the perfor- mance and handling characteristics of the plane as I continued taking it all in. To say I could not wait to fire it up