Quest Kodiak

Overview

The Daher Kodiak 100 is a clean-sheet utility turboprop designed from the start for rugged, short-field operations, originally built by Quest Aircraft and produced under Daher since the 2019 acquisition. Unlike competitors adapted into the bush role, the Kodiak was engineered for humanitarian and backcountry operations, with a discontinuous leading-edge wing that preserves aileron authority and stall resistance at low speed. A 750-shp Pratt & Whitney PT6A-34 turns it into a STOL hauler that lifts a full cabin off short, unimproved strips.

For the GA buyer, the Kodiak 100 is the affordable end of the new-turboprop market and a genuine go-anywhere single. It carries over 3,500 lb of useful load through a large clamshell cargo door, runs a Garmin G1000 (G1000 NXi on Series II and III airframes), and operates from runways under 1,000 feet at gross weight. It cruises at up to 183 KTAS, slower than retractable turboprops, which is the price of its fixed gear and field performance.

Key Features for GA Buyers

• Purpose-built STOL wing. The discontinuous leading edge holds aileron authority into the stall, and the airframe takes off in under 1,000 feet at maximum gross weight.
• 750-shp PT6A-34. The Pratt & Whitney turbine carries a 4,000-hour TBO.
• 3,500-lb useful load. A large clamshell cargo door and removable seating let the cabin convert between passengers and freight.
• G1000 NXi avionics. Series II and III airframes carry the NXi suite with full IFR capability and synthetic vision.

Trade-offs

• Fixed-gear drag. The robust fixed gear caps cruise speed well below retractable-gear turboprops like the TBM or PC-12.
• Unpressurized. The 25,000-foot ceiling is academic without pressurization; practical cruise stays low enough to limit supplemental-oxygen use, and the airplane works weather rather than climbing over it.
• Slower than retractable singles. At up to 183 KTAS the Kodiak trades block speed for field capability, so it loses to faster singles on long cross-country legs.
• Cabin refinement. The utility focus means a plainer cabin environment than the stretched Kodiak 900 or the cabin-class PC-12.

See Also

• Daher Kodiak 900 – the stretched, 900-shp successor that adds speed and cabin refinement to the same STOL design. Compare
• Cessna Caravan 675 – the established high-wing utility single it competes against on payload and field work. Compare
• Pacific Aerospace P-750 XSTOL – another purpose-built short-field hauler in the single-turboprop utility class. Compare
• Pilatus PC-12 – the pressurized cabin-class single buyers move up to when speed and altitude outweigh rough-field access. Compare