Daher, the French manufacturer of the popular TBM series of aircraft announced earlier this week that they will be purchasing Idaho based Quest Aircraft company who currently makes the popular Kodiak 100. Quest has delivered 270 of the 10-seat single engine plane. The Kodiak is favored for it’s rugged, high-wing design for operations at short and unpaved strips and is certified in over 60 countries.
“As a powerful and maneuverable aircraft, used particularly for humanitarian missions to provide aid to isolated communities, the Kodiak 100 perfectly complements our TBM product range and is fully in line with Daher’s long-term vision as a company committed to the future of aviation,” said chairman Patrick Daher.
With the purchase all current Quest employees will join the Daher company.Daher CEO Didier Kayat says that the sale is part of a strategic expansion and expects the sale to be completed by the end of the year. “The Quest Aircraft Company’s acquisition represents an additional step in our development in the United States and an overall strengthening of our aircraft manufacturing business,” Kayat said. “In addition to making Daher the world’s seventh largest aircraft manufacturer in business aviation, it provides us with our first industrial site in the United States, thereby reinforcing Daher’s position as a Tier-1 aerospace equipment and systems manufacturer, as well as a logistics and services provider.”
The Kodiak 100 boasts an almost 7,300lb maximum takeoff weight and a max range of 1100nm at best economic cruise. The Kodiak also features a Garmin G1000 Glass Cockpit avionics suite which offers synthetic vision and a weather radar as well as a full integration of digital and communication platforms. Quest also offers the Kodiak in an amphibious configuration making it the fastest float plane currently made.
Readers may be familiar with the Kodiak from videos made popular on YouTube by the Stevo1Kinevo channel.
