Tour the Quest Kodiak Factory

Take a look inside the Quest Kodiak factory.

This tail section looks like a truck ran into it, and it should. This is the destructive testing rig, and this test article has been subjected to many hundreds of hours of abuse.

**Reliability is important in any airplane, but in a mission airplane it's critical. So Quest has gone to great lengths to ensure that the Kodiak not only does its job but continues to do its job for many years. To this end, almost every me?

The lower fuselage skin undergoing construction in its jig.

**The rear fuselage/floor of the Kodiak. Note the chair tracks. Everything is modular, so there is virtually no limit to how operators can configure their airplane. It also gives them the flexibility to swap out one arrangement for another ?

You get a real feel for the huge door opening in back. What can you fit in it? The question really is, what can't you?

Workers at the Quest factory assembling an upper fuselage section.

It's a big airplane, so for assembly, it needs some big tools. This massive jig is set up to accommodate both the part and the worker and to keep the flow going.

Wing construction is a very conventional, built-up design with sheet metal ribs and metal spars.

A Quest employee doing assembly work on a wing section.

The Quest factory is not a quiet place. It takes lots of rivet guns to get this airplane together and lots of labor. But it's hard to argue with sheet metal when it comes to an application like this.

The various assembly stations are given kits of parts to do their work. That way nothing goes in that shouldn't and nothing doesn't go in that should.

An employee deburrs guide holes in a wing skin.

A Kodiak fuselage nearing completion moves down the line.

The big wing sections laid and almost ready for installation.

The PT-6 installed, this Kodiak is nearing first flight. Note the scissor stand. Workers can raise or lower the entire airplane to make assembly easier, safer and faster.

The big Pratt sits way out in front of the cockpit. Behind it, accessories, hoses, wiring and ducts get installed as the rear and forward sections start coming together across the firewall.

In this shot the simple yet beefy construction of the Kodiak is clearly evident. The construction is so elegant and well thought out that it's hard to believe it's a first effort.