LOGBOOKS Mission LOG
Friday, June 24, 2011...Certain challenges require a different approach.
Sitting at home, or at the office, in the comfort of a familiar routine, it can be hard to imagine the kind of heavy lifting that KODIAKs are doing out in remote places where nothing is comfortable or familiar. Today KODIAKs are deployed into some of the most demanding environments on the planet. In more than 10 countries around the world, they are tasked with missions that require landing in places that comfort never imagined.
Take the Long Metun airstrip (pictured above) in the isolated Apo Kayan region of East Kalimantan, Indonesia...for example. Imagine sticking a landing on a narrow rutted 365 meter strip of red dirt, knowing that the 3% slope in the touchdown zone rises almost immediately to a 23% pitch. Dave Forney recalls landing at Long Metun and thinking, "Welcome to the big leagues." And that was back when he was flying a 206.
Dave is an MAF pilot based out of Tarakan, Kal-Tim, Indonesia. "Our MAF Kalimantan program took delivery of the first KODIAK to enter Indonesia and it was deployed back in April, 2010." It waded right into the sweltering hard work bush pilots perform day in and day out. And now, with years of experience in piston aircraft, Dave has been transitioning to the KODIAK for the past few months.
Part of his training took him stateside for a few weeks at the Spokane Turbine Center (STC) in Spokane, WA. "The first week was specifically about the PT6A Turbine engine that the KODIAK uses. It was an intense week of learning--like drinking from a fire hose of turbine engine theory, line maintenance, and operation." Additional instruction included specific classes on the Garmin G-1000 integrated avionics system found in the KODIAK. "For someone who's never flown a glass panel aircraft, this is like learning a whole new technical language and culture. I don't typically think of myself as an "old-school" pilot, but technology has dramatically advanced the look and feel of modern-day aircraft cockpits and the KODIAK is a great example." While at STC he also spent extensive time flying the full-motion AATD KODIAK, which is a full KODIAK cockpit built into a 3-axis-motion simulator.
By the middle of March Dave was back home in the tropics where in-country training progressed well. "After several days of local training flights, we spent several days doing operational flights interior."
"Here I am up at 19,000 feet learning all about how to use the oxygen system...just in case. We rarely go above 12,500 feet in normal operations."
Finally, just this last month, Dave was set free.
"Saturday was my first solo day. I flew nearly 800 nautical miles to eight different locations, carrying 23 passengers and about 2,300 pounds of supplies. It's hard to imagine how much time and blood and sweat this saved."
"Some of the things that look normal in this plane well, it just isn't normal for most planes...and maybe some trucks. It's amazing to see how much stuff the KODIAK can carry."
"I recently ran a bunch of medical supplies up to Mahak Baru. We had everything from medicine cabinets, desks and chairs, to stretchers, wash basins and thousands of syringes stuffed inside -- everything to furnish a small overnight clinic."
"On Friday it was pretty muddy in the turn-around area at the top of the Data Dian airstrip."
"Actually it's more like clay, and it sticks to your tires and shoes and everything it touches! When you fly in the bush little things like this strain other aircraft...the KODIAK hardly notices."
"Around mid-June, if all goes well, I'll be able to take the KODIAK out to those strips that I've flown in and out of so many times in the Cessna 206 over the past couple of years, only now I'll be carrying nearly twice the load!"
"Eventually, our program will get several more KODIAKs, which will replace most of our smaller Cessna 206's."
"As you can see, the folks interior are very excited to see this new shiny airplane!"
We formed Quest Aircraft with a passionate commitment to a clear vision: Build a brand new clean sheet aircraft with modern STOL design for high-performance backcountry applications. An airplane that thrives in the most inhospitable places on earth. While we realize you may not be servicing locations quite like this, your mission may not take you to places this remote or demanding, we also know that when you’re flying a KODIAK, the impossible can become routine. KODIAKs, and those of you who fly them, are making these places a little more comfortable.
With proper training, experience, and situational awareness, the KODIAK will haul itself plus cargo nearly its own weight, safely, and with comfortable margins, into and out of just about anywhere. We build it for that purpose -- to live hard and free, burning Jet-A at 140 knots for more than 1,000 nautical miles at a time without complaint.
Words, specs, and blueprints are one thing. Actions are another. Transition into KODIAK and before you know it you’ll be doing things you never imagined. All it takes is a different approach.
Dave, all of us at Quest are honored to be a part of the work that you and MAF do every day. Thank you for sharing your story and your amazing photographs. We are looking forward to hearing more from you in the months and years ahead as you and the Kalimantan team put the KODIAK through its paces. Godspeed in your adventures to come.
To see clips of the KODIAK in action check out this video by Dave and MAF colleague Paul College.
Catch Dave’s log on A Day in the Life of the KODIAK.
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Monday, December 6, 2010…There are now two KODIAKs in JAARS’ Papua New Guinea fleet, and how they got there makes all the difference. Each of these aircraft spent time at JAARS’ HQ in Waxhaw North Carolina for training and ferry preparations before setting out on their international journeys. Then, like great arms embracing the globe, these two KODIAKs laid tracks, one to the east and one to the west, which took them all the way round to the other side of the world.
After 16,000 miles and 12 days of ferry flying, KODIAK s/n 0038 touched down on November 19 at Aiyura, the mission aviation center in the central highlands of Papua New Guinea where JAARS-trained pilots are based. This came roughly one year, and thirty Quest deliveries, after its sibling s/n 0008 arrived last September.
These two aircraft have separately seen a tremendous range of terrain: the Azores, Crete, Hawaii, the Marshall Islands, Spain, Sri Lanka, and much more. Together, these KODIAKs have literally flown around the world. And now they are both home.
Papua New Guinea has been described as “the end of the line” by veteran JAARS pilot Steve Ottaviano. The rugged terrain doesn't just separate; it isolates. To understand that is to understand how 800 distinct languages have developed in a land that covers about 285,000 square miles -- that's Texas, plus about 20,000 square miles and 799 languages. In broad terms, the KODIAKs in Papua New Guinea are serving people who don't just count on aircraft for transportation but as the only link to the world beyond the nearly impassable mountains and jungles surrounding their villages. In many cases, that link means survival.
In specific terms, KODIAKs are quickly replacing the venerable Cessna 206 aircraft -- flying faster out to the same sloping airstrips cut out of mountains and dense forest, while carrying roughly twice the load and burning much more widely available, much less expensive Jet-A.
It's almost like these KODIAKs are doing the impossible. They are broadening the world for the people of Papua New Guinea, by bridging cultures and bringing medical supplies to isolated villages. And these KODIAKs are also shrinking their world by turning a 100 mile trip -- nearly impossible on the ground -- into a 45 minute flight. The impact of the KODIAK is growing. We couldn't be more proud.
Our deep thanks to JAARS for putting KODIAK to work half way round the world and for sharing these photos. For more information please visit www.jaars.org and www.ottavianotes.blogspot.com.
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Thursday, April 29, 2010… Like anything worthwhile, it has taken more than a little effort for KODIAK s/n 0020 to find its way into the heart of Borneo. Last time we caught up with this aircraft it was on tour in the UK (see the log for December 4, 2009 below). It has certainly seen a lot of terrain since then.
Here’s an overview of the ferry flight that brought the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) KODIAK from Nampa, Idaho, USA to Tarakan, Kalimantan Timur, Indonesia.
After a long and dusty journey, KODIAK touched down on Tarakan where Kalimantan’s northeast bay looks out across the Celebes Sea. MAF has a flight base on this little island just off the coast. From Tarakan MAF serves a broad swath of the immense and wild landmass of Borneo, the third largest island on earth. Reports from MAF staff on the ground underscore how appropriate it was that this shiny new aircraft arrived on Christmas Eve. The KODIAK is a long awaited gift for the people who call this challenging region home.
And now, having negotiated mountains of red tape, the Kalimantan KODIAK, with its proper papers and new registration, is negotiating the weather and terrain that make aircraft such a vital link in this part of the world. 
The people of Kalimantan live lives confined by the very same environment that supports them. Their most reliable connections are the small airstrips of grass, mud, or dust, that dot an otherwise almost impenetrable jungle. This is the kind of environment where KODIAK PK-MEB is right at home.
Most of these airstrips are pocked with potholes and, occasionally, dotted with animals. Landings almost always draw a crowd but on these first flights the KODIAK has been immediately engulfed by locals who come out to see first-hand the aircraft that will fit twice the load in one less visit.
And here, like everywhere, when the big plane stops and the doors open wide, the faces are always different. And here, like everywhere, the welcome is just the same.
The KODIAK has arrived.
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Wednesday, March 31, 2010…Gather good people in a troubled place, give them purpose -- give them a KODIAK -- and they will make the good even better.
That's a conclusion we've come to expect from the news arriving through the mission groups that are putting KODIAK to work. We are extremely grateful to hear from them because they’re sharing something we couldn't expect…something we’d honestly only hoped for.
With two KODIAKs hard at work in Haiti we hear a good deal about capability. For example, one of the more typical loads is MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) provided via the UN’s World Food Program.
Each flight delivers between 1,000 and 1,300 meals to villages like Mare Rouge where local families are doing their best to house and feed the overwhelming number of displaced people who have flooded in from larger cities like Port Au Prince. There is a lot of food in those packages.
From time to time we also hear stories that really bring the crisis home.
Recently we heard about Julane, a young Haitian girl who was injured in the earthquake when falling concrete compressed her spine against her spinal cord and cut off feeling to her legs. Because the medical facilities in Port Au Prince were overrun she was taken 100 miles southwest to Les Cayes but doctors there determined they could not take the pressure off her spine. Fortunately they were able to find a doctor with the University of Miami Medical Facility, which is set up like a MASH unit just behind the MAF compound back in Port Au Prince. So she was loaded in the Samaritan’s Purse KODIAK and brought, with her mother, to the best medical care on the Island. The last we’ve heard of Julane is that she was feeling pain in her knee and, having felt nothing in her legs for weeks, this was very good sign.
These are the kinds of amazing stories we keep hearing from Haiti. They show the kind of work we have always expected KODIAK to shoulder. But, from time to time, we catch a glimpse of something we had only hoped for, and it’s not just in seeing what happened…but how it happened.
You see, the medical evacuation that brought Julane to hospital was organized by Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF)…and flown by a JAARS pilot with his former Moody Aviation instructor…all in a Samaritan's Purse KODIAK. These organizations are brothers and sisters who serve a common goal and it is a thrill to witness this incredible cooperative effort and see these groups continue to grow together in common, capable, equipment.
Meanwhile these, and many other, mission aviation groups now either fly, or are waiting for, their own KODIAK. Nine are currently in the hands of mission organizations worldwide.
The point is simple: An aircraft is a connection. It bridges the gap between people, places, and things. And while it's true that the KODIAK does much of its work in the air, it also serves as common ground. And, quite often, that makes all the difference.
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Monday, February 22, 2010…There are now two KODIAKs serving in Haiti.
The first is owned by Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), which has been working in country for decades. Their team of 30 pilots, mechanics, and logistical personnel provide invaluable expertise while coordinating a massive relief effort. The second is owned by Samaritan's Purse and will be operated during this crisis by JAARS. It was flown into Haiti by Steve Ottaviano (JAARS Assistant Director for Flight Standards). Steve describes the amazing cooperative effort underway.
“The staff from MAF, Samaritan’s Purse, JAARS, Missionary Flights International and others all work as one team. Hundreds of personnel and tons of food and medical supplies have been pouring in via Missionary Flights International (“MFI”) of Ft. Pierce, FL. The material has to be sorted and stashed, then made into loads (about 1,800 lb.) that can be put into the KODIAKs for their quick flights to the outlying towns for delivery to relief workers, missionaries, orphanages, hospitals and “IDP” (internally displaces persons) camps that are growing as people flee Port Au Prince.”
MAF has already moved over 550,000 pounds of cargo and more than 2,000 people with its fleet alone. But those numbers belie the true effort that is the work in Haiti: saving lives. Samaritan's Purse and its KODIAK are an essential part of that work. These two aircraft now stand shoulder to shoulder as the mission continues.
And thanks to Steve we have an on the ground report.
“Life on the streets continues. Food is available, if you have money to buy it. But that's the problem. Normal sources of income, as meager as they were before, have been disrupted. Port Au Prince is in a "slow burn" as the secondary crisis mounts. Rainy season will begin in weeks. Disease will become public enemy number one, but security will also decline as people get more desperate. I was impressed with how well-mannered the Haitian people were, considering what they've been through, but how far will their tolerance stretch?”
The people of Haiti are responding in miraculous ways amid a crisis where structure and reliability has literally been turned to dust. And that dust still hangs high in the air. Steve reports that, “The work is grueling and the hours long. Dust coats everything, including computers, airplanes (inside and out) and clothes. It creates a brown pall that hangs thousands of feet over the valley.” It's an unpleasant but telling truth that quite literally represents the lives of everyone that have gone from concrete reality to a hazy uncertainty. And the mission will not be finished until it's all gone -- both literally and figuratively.
Toward that end, aircraft fly daily, cutting through the dust with decisive consistent resolve. They are flown by determined people who need capable and reliable equipment. They deliver not just supplies but the base to do it consistently -- to provide some order, some structure, and some reason to believe tomorrow will be better. Steve shares that you can’t help but wonder, “Where is the end of all this? How will the city ever be rebuilt? Answers to those questions seem like a luxury right now as we work on the immediate goals of relieving the suffering and averting a secondary disaster, while in the process try to demonstrate God's love and His story of redemption.”
It's important that the KODIAKs perform, their pace delivers hope. This is still a region with limited electricity, few diesel generators, and where much of the useable water is collected from rain. To hear a KODIAK turbine in that environment means that you are not cut off. It means you are not forgotten. It means that help is coming.
It is for these very circumstances that we build the KODIAK. Here in Sandpoint, that's not always easy to see from the blueprints, or in the faces of our people as they do their work...but it translates through their hands into an aircraft that's built to keep going when circumstances are at their worst. Most people will never call on the KODIAK the way that MAF or Samaritan's Purse -- or the people of Haiti -- already have. But they can. And it is our deepest privilege to serve with the people who do.
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Tuesday, February 02, 2010…For the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) relief effort in Haiti help came just in the nick of time.
The three MAF Cessnas already in Haiti were hard pressed in the wake of the earthquake. The pilots based in-country were in dire need of relief and MAF’s supply of aviation gasoline (avgas) had dwindled to a single truck by the time KODIAK arrived in the disaster zone. Just as exhaustion set in the KODIAK put another shoulder under the load to help keep the mission moving forward. Thankfully, refueling is not an issue because the KODIAK flies on jet-A which is readily available in Haiti and more economical than avgas. And the two extra pilots who joined the flight from MAF’s headquarters in Nampa, Idaho are providing much needed support to the pilots who had been working nonstop since the disaster struck.
“MAF was blessed to be able to fly the new KODIAK where it was direly needed in the very heart of the Haitian catastrophe,” said MAF President John Boyd. “Meanwhile, MAF continues serving a vital role at the Port-au-Prince airport, coordinating the arrival and delivery of international aid flights that are crucial to the survival of hundreds of thousands of earthquake victims.”
Since its arrival in Port-au-Prince, the KODIAK has been in continual daytime use as an air ambulance transferring physicians and patients from Port-au-Prince and the devastated port city of Jacmel to a little-damaged hospital in the inland Haitian city of Pignon.
We were also very excited to hear that the two boxes of supplies collected by 9-year-old Moise Salois of Nampa, Idaho were delivered to a Haitian orphanage the very next day after the KODIAK arrived.
For all of you who are putting boots on the ground in this disaster zone…our prayers are with you as the mission continues.
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Thursday, January 21, 2010…There is a boy whose name is Moise. He lives in Nampa, Idaho, now, but his brothers and grandmother are back in the place he'll always know as home…they're in Haiti.
In the wake of the greatest natural disaster that country has known, Moise collected two boxes of aid including medical supplies, infant formula, food and clothing. It was our great satisfaction to learn today that this cargo would be delivered to his home in the back of a Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) KODIAK.
This is the KODIAK's kind of war. It doesn't involve bullets or great armies of destruction. It is exactly the opposite. It's a war on suffering and a fight for the needy. Its enemies are cost distance and time. MAF fights this war all over the world, charged by design with meeting that mission and delivering peace through comfort and care. It's a lofty goal that ultimately isn't measured by the good will that sustains it. Boiled down, it's often measured by other variables…specifically, in cargo delivered and jet fuel. That's where we come in.
MAF sent out a press release, today, about Moise Salois, their KODIAK's mission to Haiti, and MAF's missions all over the world. It's a moving story of MAF's unwavering commitment of service…which is why one line at the end struck us so strongly.
"Over the next few years, MAF will place 18 KODIAKS into service, replacing many of its Cessna 206s. Because this revolutionary aircraft can carry nearly twice the cargo of the Cessna 206, which makes up most of MAF’s fleet, the amount of medicine, food and disaster relief supplies MAF delivers at half the cost per cargo pound."
At its base, aircraft manufacturing is a cold business of folding sheet metal, bucking rivets and expediting delivery. But it's never been just that for us. At Quest there is a brotherhood that leaves our hangar on the wings of each KODIAK. It's not about who we help. It's ultimately about who they help through us...and us through them.
MAF KODIAK N103MF took off January 20, for the 18-hour flight across 3,000 miles to Haiti. We do not know when we will hear from them next. Honestly, they have more important things to do. And we have more planes to build to help them do it.
Godspeed!
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Friday, December 4, 2009…When do great achievements become commonplace?
From Bleriot's English Channel flight to Lindbergh's Atlantic crossing, history is full of feats that once seemed unimaginable. Many of these have become so commonplace as to be almost trivial today. The image of MAF KODIAK N9710M over Les Roches Douvres (the lighthouse mid-way between Guernsey and the French coast of Brittany) brings to mind a long history of achievement that spans the White Cliffs of Dover to the shores of Normandy. True, it's just another one of our aircraft working over another distant shore. But my, how history has changed and how aviation has changed it. (Geoff Jones, thank you very much for the photo.)
More and more KODIAKs are out in the world doing what we built them to do. They've flown west…covering the 2400 miles of open Pacific. N9710M charted the course northeast from Newfoundland to Greenland then Iceland and on to the UK. 
That makes it the third KODIAK to cross the Atlantic.
While in the UK, KODIAK has taken in the sights (there aren’t many fortresses islands in Idaho).
It was also on display at the Duxford Airshow, next to aircraft much more familiar with British soil.
And, KODIAK made a promotional appearance at an old WWII airfield.
Anywhere we see grass reclaiming tarmac makes up feel right at home…even half a world away.
Soon N9710M will be on its way through Europe and Asia to its final destination. One more journey to make before it lands at its new home in Borneo.
We build KODIAK for this kind of adventure. We build them to lay bridges where none existed before. It's all becoming quite normal. But when seeing our KODIAK flying high over the English Channel becomes commonplace, it is only through the greatness of those who paved the way.
With respect to those who made our efforts possible, we press on. Our hope is that these efforts won't just make distant frontiers reachable, but like those who came before us, these efforts - like our KODIAK - will ultimately make the journey commonplace.
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Friday, November 13, 2009…World travelers will tell you that when visiting a foreign land the greatest compliment isn't being taught the ways of the locals, it's being accepted as one. That gift has now been bestowed on the JAARS KODIAK.
Initially registered in the U.S. as N498KQ, the first KODIAK in PNG (Papua New Guinea) has now – after little more than one month of local operation – been officially accepted by the local governing bodies. This acceptance comes both in the form of a PNG Certificate of Airworthiness and the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) Air Operators Certificate that was flown up from Pt. Morsby to Ukarumpa today. This official approval means that N498KQ has been given a new native name – P2-SIB.
This is more than just a random string of alphanumerics. Rick Nachtigal (JAARS PNG KODIAK Implementation Coordinator) explains how KODIAK P2-SIB has inherited a name and a mission. "It used to be the number on one of our old C402’s. We had two of them and they were real work horses. However, as the price of avgas began to rise, and rumors began circulating of it being cut off from PNG, we decided to move towards a turbine fleet. We are excited to get the KODIAK which fills a critical need for long range flights into short to medium length airstrips. We loved the call sign “SIB” and decided to use it on our first KODIAK." To make the day even better, Rick also received his official Type endorsement and Instrument of Approval as training captain on the KODIAK. So, bright and early Monday morning he will begin transitioning a second JAARS pilot into the KODIAK.
In its first 40 days of work, this airplane has logged about 30 hours. This includes numerous training flights into remote villages.
The first operational flight in PNG was to carry kids back to school after break.
KODIAK also flew a translator and her gear into the interior of PNG to meet a JAARS helicopter that took her on to a particularly remote village in the Finisterre Mountains.
So far this airplane has been out doing what it was born to do. And on Monday, November 16th it will take off for the very first operational flight of a PNG registered KODIAK. 
In short, N498KQ, now PS-SIB, has arrived. KODIAK is shouldering the load and picking right up where the old workhorses left off.
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Wednesday, October 14, 2009…How do you know when you’ve made it?
For some, it’s the day you throw your graduation cap in the air, or the night you hear those quiet words “it’s a girl”, or the moment you realize that boot camp is over and the real adventure is about to begin. For us…we know the real adventure is beginning when our aircraft traverses an otherwise impassable jungle...
...to touch dirt on a tiny grass strip cut into the side of a hill with a variable five to fifteen-degree incline and roll to a stop within 700 feet. 
This is pretty much exactly what we had in mind when we pulled out that first clean sheet of paper and started engineering the KODIAK. Imagine our elation this week when JAARS sent photos of their pilots bringing this dream to life.
The fact that a crowd of villagers streamed out to greet the new plane…well that’s icing on the cake.
Our most sincere congratulations to JAARS for their field delivery of KODIAK s/n 008 to its operational base at Aiyura. Thank you for beginning the task of turning a whole new set of dreams into reality.
For more information read Steve Ottaviano’s blog.
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Friday, September 25, 2009…After 6 days of flying and well over 9,000 miles in the air, the first KODIAK to go to work in overseas service with a humanitarian organization, flared and then settled lightly onto the dirt strip of its new home half a world away.
The crowd that gathered at this small strip in the highlands of Papua New Guinea (Ukarumpa mission station is JAARS home base for KODIAK s/n 008) had been eagerly anticipating this arrival for years. The welcome celebration was a fitting tribute to the fact that the day we have all waited for has come. What a homecoming!
The ferry flight began September 19 when, with ink still drying on the final FAA paperwork, KODIAK 008 began a few short hops, less than a thousand miles each, over the mainland United States.
On September 21 the real adventure began when JAARS pilot Steve Ottaviano and co-pilot Brian Stoltzfus climbed into the cockpit in Santa Maria, California. With a special permit from the FAA KODIAK 008 was 30% over normal takeoff weight when it lifted off the tarmac, gently banked west, and headed out over the blue expanse of Pacific Ocean.
2,447 miles and almost 14 hours later the team set down in Honolulu, just an hour after sunset.
By September 22, KODIAK 008 had flown the second major leg of the journey and arrived in the Marshall Islands after 12:16 hours in the air. And by September 23, they were on the ground in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
That’s KODIAK reliability, range and comfort in action. And, for those of us in Sandpoint, it is exciting to see this reality translated from blueprints and spec-sheets into real world adventure. We’ve enjoyed following the JAARS Flight Blog and Steve Ottaviano’s personal blog as the journey progressed. Here’s our favorite line so far. Steve describes the arrival at Marshall Islands at the end of a 2200 mile leg, simply:
”The monsoon weather was a bit of a challenge, but the KODIAK’s equipment and performance made the arrival in Majuro very manageable.” From our perspective, that’s Pulitzer-worthy writing.
Of course, every KODIAK can do that. But the practical business of getting one to do it that far beyond the white breakers did necessitate some modification. In this case, the JAARS KODIAK was fitted with an auxiliary fuel tank in the cabin that doubled the aircraft’s range. Which brings up another point. Thirteen hours is a lot of flying to do in one sitting, so we weren’t surprised to learn that the overall trip of about 50 hours and 9,200 miles was planned to take about 10 days (to accommodate for rest and weather). The surprise was that it ended up taking 6.
You can (at least for the next few weeks) take a look at some of the JAARS KODIAK ferry flight history at JAARS Flight Blog. Honestly, we can’t get enough of it. There are a lot of folks here in Sandpoint walking around like proud parents. What can we say? Our kid has grown up and set out to make good in the world.
It’s a real rite of passage moment. Godspeed, N498KQ. We’ll be watching…and we’ll be here if you ever need us.
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Saturday, August 1, 2009…The grass is pretty trampled and brown from a week’s worth of traffic and AirVenture 2009 is winding down. But before we pack up and head home I can’t help sharing one of this year’s most powerful and personal highlights.
As part of FLY4LIFE a number of mission organizations sponsored aircraft for static display just off AeroShell Square. Since there are now over 100 mission organizations flying around the world, you can imagine there was a wide range of equipment to choose from. Having spent about 10,000 hours and some of the best years of my life flying in Africa, it was a thrill to wander through these planes and talk with the pilots who operate them. Working through the crowd and catching up with old friends (of both the human and mechanical kind) was a wonderful experience. Talk about rugged remote flying…these guys have seen it all. And 2 of these historic aircraft really stood out.
JAARS (Jungle Aviation And Radio Service) has a Helio Courier on display.
Over the years JAARS has operated 41 Helio Couriers in some of the most remote and challenging terrain on the planet. And while Helios can’t carry as much as other fixed-wing aircraft, they are absolutely essential for getting in and out of mountainous areas with extremely short strips. Over the years this plane became such a staple at JAARS that if you look Helio Courier up in Wikipedia there’s a picture from JAARS…really. They still own and operate 11 Helios and this particular plane (N242B) is affectionately knows as “Ol No. 1”.
Ol’ No. 1 is the very first production Helio Courier ever produced…s/n 0001. It rolled off the production line back in June of 1954 and now has 7,623.5 flight hours. It is still flown today as a training and demonstration aircraft.
Also on display is Steve Saint’s rebuilt Piper PA-14.
This aircraft is a replica the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) plane flown by Nate Saint back in the mid 50’s. It even bears the original “56 Henry” N number. Of all the planes on display at AirVenture…this one puts the biggest lump in my throat.
You see, in 1956, I was in college up in Canada when Nate Saint landed a modified PA-14 just like this one on a small sandbar in the bend of a river in Ecuador. After months of preparation Nate Saint and four colleagues had an encouraging initial contact with the local Auca Indians who came out to see the plane. Two days later all 5 were dead. As the news spread worldwide a lot of kids who never really thought of mission aviation were inspired to service…and I was one of them. This little yellow plane and its pilot changed the entire course of my life.
MAF and JAARS are the grandfathers of mission aviation. They have been putting aircraft in the sky for over 60 years. And this year at AirVenture, 2 of their greatest heroes are on display. The JAARS Helio Courier and the MAF PA-14 embody a generation of lives spent in devotion to service.
As I walked out to the corner and turned back to get a better look…that lump in my throat came back. The 2 grandfathers of mission aviation had heroes on display and between them stood a KODIAK.
And just around the corner is KODIAK s/n 0001. This shiny yellow KODIAK is owned by the Spokane Turbine Center (STC) where it is dedicated to training a whole new generation as mission aviation transitions from piston aircraft with oil gauges to modern turbine power and glass-cockpits.
The KODIAK is being asked to pick up where the old workhorses left off. It is quickly becoming the aircraft of choice for mission fleet renewal world-wide. In fact, more that 50 are already on order from numerous humanitarian organizations. While the mission of service hasn’t changed from the old days when I was young…the equipment has.
Here’s to a new generation and the legacy they will leave.
Dave Voetmann
Co-visionary
KODIAK Project
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Thursday, July 30, 2009…The largest annual sporting event in the world started about 50 years ago with just a few pilots getting together to do what pilots and fishermen do best…swap stories.
Now, 56 years later, EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin hosts some 600,000 guests. As you can see, the North 40 is filled with folks who park their planes and camp under the wing...some for a night…some for the whole week.
Year after year we all show up to participate in what seems like a nonstop extravaganza of the latest and greatest in aviation. We’re all here because we know that when they say AirVenture is “The World’s Greatest Aviation Celebration” they aren’t kidding. Gene Jordan (a good friend who has been with Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) since 1977) sums it up with a simple fact, "It's kind of like heaven for a pilot.”
That’s probably more true this year than it has ever been. You see, each year EAA features different themes in aviation and for 2009 one of the themes at AirVenture is Humanitarian and Mission Aviation Service Worldwide. Or, as Gene Jordan puts it, “How airplanes are used for good." This year AirVenture is celebrating humanitarian aviation and EAA has provided a 40 by 40 ft tent on the extremely valuable real estate right off AeroShell Square.
This tent features displays by 40 humanitarian aviation organizations all in one place at one time. People have been flying in from all over the world to be here this week. Let me try to put it into perspective. MASA is an amazingly dedicated group that provides housing and 3 hot meals every day all week for missionaries who attend Oshkosh each year. (They gladly made the 8 hour round trip to pick me up at O’Hare and drove me to Oshkosh when my flight was cancelled earlier this week. That’s the kind of dedication these folks have.) Usually they take care of 100 people each year. This year nearly 400 mission personnel are benefiting from their hospitality.
Yesterday everyone gathered for a group photo and it was quickly obvious that without a wide angle lens and a cherry picker I wasn’t going to be able to get everyone in the shot.
The amazing story here is the unprecedented demonstration of teamwork that has united a global cast around a central theme expressed as FLY4LIFE. The International Association of Missionary Aviation (IAMA) was the logical organization to tackle this mountainous task and they have done an incredible job of coordinating the worldwide effort that brought these non-profit mission organizations together. When I spoke with Chuck Daly (the Director of JAARS Aviation and President of IAMA) he shared with me that, “Our desired outcome has been to see people getting involved in mission and humanitarian aviation. We want folks to leave this show thinking…hey here’s something I can do to make faith and compassion tangible. That might involve supporting one of these organizations, or supplying aircraft parts, or providing technical expertise, or maybe heading overseas yourself. FLY4LIFE offers a whole host of ways in which we can work together to change the world for individuals in need. And, from the perspective of mission organizations coming together, this week has been and outstanding experience. These folks have great dedication. It’s impossible not to sense the tremendous enthusiasm and public support represented in this event.”
Quest is thrilled to stand together with our friends and partners at aviation's greatest gathering and 3 KODIAKs are on display this year as part of FLY4LIFE. Here is MAF's KODIAK.
This one belongs to JAARS.
Spokane Turbine Center (STC) also has a KODIAK at AirVenture.
We are delighted that of the first 19 KODIAKs delivered 7 of them serve with humanitarian organizations. And right now the 20th is heading for the paint shop to be dressed in MAF colors. These deliveries are particularly exciting because they fulfill Quest’s original vision. From the very beginning we set out to design and manufacture a bush/utility aircraft specifically suited to the needs of mission and humanitarian aviation.
This aircraft was designed with the participation of the Quest Mission Team (QMT). These organizations have over 6 decades of experience providing humanitarian services in the most geographically challenging and difficult to reach areas of the world. Their involvement in this project translated that history into a modern solution to the current requirement of remote “bush” flying. As Chuck Daly puts it, “One of the most important things about the KODIAK is that it has been a team effort from the beginning. Quest sought out the help of organizations like JAARS, MAF, New Tribes, and many others. It was a collaboration first of design and then also of funding. Quest has provided an excellent excuse for us all to sit down at the same table together and work these things through.” Now, as KODIAKs are deployed in the field they supply humanitarian organizations with a rugged, powerful, and capable aircraft with which to renew their aging fleets.
The greatest side benefit of this project is that KODIAK has also been a powerful catalyst within the mission aviation community. Chuck Daly again, “While there has always been a sense of teamwork within mission aviation there has never been a single tool … until now … that has really been a rallying point the way the KODIAK has.” Together our vision is that the most impoverished people in the world will have a better life here and in eternity as a result of the KODIAK, the pilots who are called to help, and those of you who support these efforts in a myriad of ways.
Together we are getting that job done one plane at a time.
Blessings,
Dave Voetmann
Co-visionary
KODIAK Project
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Audio: Chuck Daly
Aviation Director
JAARS
AirVenture 2009 - KODIAK and FLY4LIFE
Thursday, July 23, 2009…Every year hundreds of thousands of people gather in Oshkosh, Wisconsin for what is billed as “The World’s Greatest Aviation Celebration”. This year the worlds greatest aviation celebration is celebrating mission and humanitarian aviation with a major display adjacent to AeroShell Square, aircraft displays, numerous forums, presentations, and an evening program on Monday, July 27. FLY4LIFE at EAA AirVenture 2009 will recognize and celebrate the breadth and depth of good works by those who offer aviation services for the benefit of people all around the world.
In this segment Chuck Daly, the director of JAARS Aviation and President of the International Association of Mission Aviation, talks a bit about the role KODIAK will play at Oshkosh.
For more information visit: www.airventure.org and www.Fly4Life.org
Audio Player
(Duration 00:46min)
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