Northwest Aerospace News October | November Issue No. 5 | Page 24

T
his aircraft story brings togeth-
er aerospace executives, a mission
to do good, the great outdoors and
a worldwide training program. It
is a unique story that sounds like
a dream come true for an entre-
preneur and for the small, short
runway (STOL — short take-off
and landing) aircraft industry.
The origin of Quest Aircraft started
in 1998 with three co-visionaries.
Initially, Tom Hamilton and David
Voetmann recognized the need for
short-runaway aircraft for human-
itarian missions, and pulled in for-
mer CEO of Alaska Airlines, Bruce
Kennedy, as chairman of the board.
The Kodiak 100 was the first
aircraft built in 2001. The Quest
Aircraft manufacturing facility is
adjacent to the Sandpoint Airport
and employs 300. The aircraft is
sold in 66 countries through an
authorized dealer network.
The manufacturing location lends
itself to aircraft testing in a STOL
environment. Elizabeth Allenbaugh,
public relations manager, said,
“With Sandpoint they are flying to
backcountry strips near Schweitzer
and Priest Lake and to Cavanaugh
Bay — these locations have short,
unimproved landing strips, ideal for
testing and refining the Kodiak’s
performance capabilities.” In fact,
the photos of the Kodiak demon-
strate the adventure lifestyle of the
aircraft. Allenbaugh added, “While
the Kodiak is a highly capable un-
improved-strip aircraft, most of our
customers do operate their Kodiaks
in and out of regular airstrips. In
this way our brand is like Land
Rover or Range Rovers, which are
often advertised on muddy off-road
trails.”
24
NORTHWEST AEROSPACE NEWS