Matt Thurber, editor-in-chief at AIN Media Group, has been flying since 1975 and writing about aviation since 1978 and now has the best job in the world, running editorial operations for Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, and FutureFlight.aero. In addition to working as an A&amp;P mechanic on everything from Piper Cubs to turboprops, Matt taught flying at his father’s flight school in Plymouth, Mass., in the early 1980s, flew for an aircraft owner/pilot, and for two summer seasons hunted swordfish near the George’s Banks off the East Coast from a Piper Super Cub. An ATP certificated fixed-wing pilot and CFII and commercial helicopter pilot, Matt is type-rated in the Citation 500 and Gulfstream V/550. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Matt and his team cover the entire aviation scene including business aircraft, helicopters, avionics, safety, manufacturing, charter, fractionals, technology, air transport, advanced air mobility, defense, and other subjects of interest to AIN, BJT, and FutureFlight readers.

Editor-in-Chief

Matt Thurber

Brazil’s vast, rugged terrain, with major metropolitan areas separated by sparsely populated regions, is ideally suited for utility airplanes, especially the Quest Kodiak single-engine turboprop. Last year, Quest Aircraft appointed Kodiak do Brasil of Anápolis as its authorized sales representative in Brazil.

 


“The Kodiak is well-suited for the Brazilian marketplace, and our confidence in Jim Cable and the team at Kodiak do Brasil to represent and support our product could not be higher,” said John Hunt, vice president of sales for North, Central, and South America for Quest Aircraft. “Their aircraft sales and support history demonstrates an unparalleled understanding of Brazilian operators and their needs.”

 


“I firmly believe we’ll find it a very successful product across multiple active markets here,” said Cable, “including agricultural, charter, and corporate use applications.”

 


On May 30, Quest Aircraft unveiled the upgraded version of its Kodiak 100, the new Series II. The company expects the first deliveries of the Series II to Brazil to take place in 2019.

 


Features range from Series II paint schemes to Garmin G1000 NXi avionics, airframe improvements, and a free two-year subscription to the Garmin Pilot EFB app. The Kodiak Series II is priced at $2.15 million.

 


Eighteen new paint schemes are available, complementing new Kodiak branding on various parts of the airplane and accessories, including yoke plates featuring the “Built By Hand In Sandpoint Idaho” tagline.

 


Subtle but welcome improvements to the cabin include an easier-to-use cargo door-step mechanism that also lowers cabin noise. Wing root sealing is improved to cut noise and eliminate fumes in the cabin. Pilots’ sun visors are upgraded to an improved Rosen model.

 


Under the cowl, the Kodiak’s Pratt &amp; Whitney Canada PT6A-34 engine now features an accessory gearbox chip detector.

 


Crew doors can now be held open with two new door stays, one for partial opening and one to hold the door fully open. The stay allows the door and the engine cowling to be open at the same time.

 


The optional single-point refueling port and control panel, which add 16 pounds to the empty weight, are located at the left wing root and allow high-pressure fueling and defueling.

 


A big change that Kodiak pilots will notice right away is the analog backup instruments have been replaced with a compact L3 ESI-500 four-in-one electronic standby instrument. This freed up space on either side of the G1000 displays for two new glove boxes.

 


The Garmin G1000 NXi upgrade brings dual-core processors—instead of the G1000’s original single-core processors—to the three large displays, speeding startup, zooming, and panning. The primary flight display (PFD) in front of each pilot adds an HSI map displaying traffic, terrain, weather, navaids, and obstacles in a convenient location for the pilot’s instrument scan. The HSI map and synthetic vision are standard features on the Kodiak.

 


A useful NXi feature is the communication decoder, which displays the name of the facility tuned into the comm and nav radios underneath the frequency display.

 


Garmin’s SurfaceWatch terminal safety system is optional on the Kodiak and is displayed on the PFD to the left of the airspeed indicator. SurfaceWatch issues warnings for takeoff or landing on the wrong runway or a too-short runway and provides updated information on the airport environment while taxiing.

 


The multifunction display (MFD) adds a vertical situation display, which graphically shows the Kodiak’s altitude in relation to terrain for the planned flight.

 


Pilots can complete weight-and-balance calculations on the MFD and view load parameters to ensure that all are safely within the weight-and-balance envelope.

 


Visual approaches are new for G1000 NXi, and these are available at most airports, allowing the system to generate a 3-degree glidepath to pilot-designated minimums. The visual approach can be coupled to the autopilot.

 


Animated Nexrad can be displayed on the G1000 NXi when the optional GDL 69 datalink/SiriusXM receiver is installed.

 


With G1000 NXi, Garmin’s Flight Stream 510 wireless gateway is standard, allowing database updates directly from the Garmin Pilot app. Using Bluetooth, pilots can automatically transfer flight plans from a mobile device running Garmin Pilot or ForeFlight directly to the G1000 NXi.

 


Another new Series II option is Garmin’s GWX-70 weather radar, which offers four-color storm cell tracking, selectable scan (up to 90 degrees), full pitch and roll stabilization, side-view vertical scanning, Garmin’s Weather Attenuated Color Highlight, turbulence detection, and ground-clutter suppression.

 


Garmin’s GTX 345R ADS-B Out/In transponder is included in the Series II upgrade. With ADS-B In, the Garmin Pilot app can display weather, GPS position, traffic, and backup attitude.

 


Quest has added Safe Flight’s Arinc 429 angle-of-attack system, which includes an indicator mounted on the glareshield in the pilot’s field of view.

 


Two Bose A20 ANR headsets are included with the Series II, and they use new Lemo plugs alongside the standard headset jacks. Lemo plugs use aircraft power and eliminate the need to keep headset batteries charged.

 


L3 LDR1000 cockpit voice and data recorders are available in single or dual installations for operators that need them.

 


The Kodiak can carry 10 people, and maximum range is 1,132 nm (2,096 kilometers) at long-range cruise speed of 135 knots. Flying a maximum cruise speed of 174 knots, range is 1,005 nm. Takeoff ground roll at maximum weight is 934 feet (285 meters) and ground roll 765 feet.

News and developments about airplanes, helicopters and unmanned air vehicles used in all varieties of operations, including airlines, military, business, commercial, general aviation and private.

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