The Kodiak Visits MMS Aviation

While Karen and I were in England, the Kodiak flew into Coshocton as MMS Aviation was a scheduled display stop along its national promotional tour for the Spokane Turbine Center. The Kodiak is a brand new airplane and the first airplane designed specifically for mission aviation. Ten years in development, it's being built by a completely new aircraft company created to produce the Kodiak, Quest Aircraft Company, in Sandpoint, Idaho. The Kodiak that flew in was Serial Number 0001.

Mission aviation is very excited about the Kodiak because it blends the best aspects of two mission-critical aircraft: the Cessna 206 and the Cessna 208 Caravan. While the Kodiak is built around an extremely rugged airframe consistent with both the 206 and the 208, the Kodiak then blends the short take-off and land characteristics of the 206 (so critical in many remote locations) with the high-performance turbine powerplant, higher speed, and greater load capability of the Caravan. With the current costs and scarcity of aviation gasoline around the world, having a turbine engine is a distinct advantage costwise as well as in raw horsepower available to lift cargo, personnel, and supplies.

Coshocton was pretty excited about the Kodiak too, as the local cable station, newspaper, and radio station showed up to record and report on the event. Rides were given, interviews provided, photos were taken, people flew in, drove in, and walked over just to get a peek.

You'll be seeing and hearing more about the Kodiak as they become available on the commercial market as well. This airplane has the capacity to carry mission aviation into the next generation and beyond and MMS is dedicated to keeping up with the power curve. It appears that the Kodiak may return to MMS next month for a scheduled inspection to be performed. Stay tuned.

Special thanks to Josh Adelsberger, who took these photos of the Kodiak. Josh and his family have been with MMS gaining additional experience prior to serving as a maintenance specialist with a ministry down in Brazil. Please pray that their visa application will finally go through with this last request for additional paperwork. They've been working through the visa process for nearly a year.

Here's the Kodiak:

The Kodiak approaches the ramp at MMS, July 24.

The business end of the Kodiak.

Taxiing out for a flight.

To see Josh's full photo album on the Kodiak, click here.

Back In The Saddle At MMS

Well, it's like I was never away from the office though our new batch of MMS baseball caps did arrive while we were in England. Our hangars are still full of airplanes needing to be repaired, there are mechanics down there being prepared for mission service, and the hill leading up to the hangar is just as tall as it was before we left.

I was huffing and puffing by the time I pedaled my way to the top of the hill this morning and very thankful that David M. had opened the security gate so I wouldn't have to stop until I reached the main entrance to the hangar. The past three weeks of eating three healthy meals a day (with tea and biscuits for morning break and tea and cakes for afternoon break) made the ride up the hill a bit more of an exertion than I thought it would be. As I was peddling up the hill I kept checking to see if my rear tire was going flat. The real problem wasn't the rear tire, it was the "spare" tire I've taken to hauling around my middle. Ha. Thank you England. As Dwight says, "It helps to wear a loose shirt." Indeed.

Here's a picture of David M. working on the 206 for MAF Chad. He's installing a portion of the lower cowl after inspecting the nose gear assembly.

One exciting thing that we did miss by being in England was the Kodiak's visit to our facility. I'll blog more about the Kodiak tomorrow. Right now, I'm about to get ready for the pedal home. A major advantage of the ride home is that instead of taking me fifteen minutes to climb the hill, it only takes one minute for me to get to the bottom. Wahoo! Yes, I wear a helmet!