Company Specializes In Training For Mission Organizations

Not a bad way to cap the week. On Thursday, four days after announcing the delivery of its first customer airplane, Quest Aircraft Company told ANN the second customer Kodiak turboprop was delivered to Spokane Turbine Center.

Located at Felts Field Airport, the Spokane Turbine Center is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 that will offer prerequisite and customized flight and maintenance training for the Kodiak -- as well as for the Garmin G1000 and the Pratt & Whitney PT6A engine -- for the mission aviation community, aviation students and humanitarian organizations.

"Turbine aircraft are changing the way mission organizations are flying," said Jeff Turcotte, Executive Director of Spokane Turbine Center. "The Kodiak is ushering in a new era for missionary, humanitarian and bush flying. Combining rugged reliability with a modern STOL design, top-of the-line avionics and PT6A reliability, the Kodiak is the ultimate aircraft for the next generation of mission and bush pilots. For those in need of prerequisite training before attending initial training at Quest, we can provide a cost-effective training solution. We are delighted that we can put S/N 001 to work in such a great capacity.

"Mission aviation organizations are depending on the Kodiak to meet their needs for years to come and Spokane Turbine Center’s purpose is to provide customized training at an affordable price to these organizations so they can fulfill their training requirements," Turcotte added.

Founded in 2007, the company’s primary focus is to help mission organizations with flight and maintenance training. Quest officials tell ANN Spokane Turbine Center will also work closely with Moody Aviation to provide turbine training to Moody Aviation students, along with other missionary groups and mission aviation training schools.

"We are extremely pleased that Spokane Turbine Center is the customer for our second Kodiak delivery," said Paul Schaller, Quest Aircraft’s President and CEO. "Quest was founded to meet a very specific need for mission and humanitarian organizations. While the commercial marketplace is very important to us, our larger purpose is service-oriented. The more airplanes we sell to commercial customers, the more aircraft we can provide for mission aviation purposes. Spokane Turbine Center shares our same philosophy, and we are pleased that they will be helping these organizations receive the required training."

The Kodiak received FAA Type Certification on May 30 2007, and is currently working with the FAA to earn a production certificate. As ANN reported Monday, last week Kodiak launch customer Spirit Air took delivery of its first plane, N838SA.

FMI: www.questaircraft.com, www.spokaneturbinecenter.com