![]() Sales for both the Kodiak 100 Series III and the new 900 have been brisk, according to Daher Kodiak, and buyers will wait at least two years to bring either airplane home to the hangar. Owners eyeing a new 900-SHP Kodiak 900 will surely look at Textron’s venerable 675-SHP fixed-gear Cessna Caravan, which has a max speed that’s roughly 30 knots slower, a 3305-pound useful load and can carry between 10 and 14 passengers. It’s not without at least some competition in the utility turboprop-single market, of course. And not insignificant is that Daher knows how to support the product and treat the customer. After all, Daher has long proven itself with the hugely successful TBM turboprop line, knowing how to make turboprop singles go efficiently fast with a healthy dose of styling, comfort and standard tech. Nobody can argue that Daher’s oversight of the Kodiak product line isn’t a good thing for both the 100 and 900’s future. Redesigned cabin seats can be removed without tools and positioned either fore or aft. It also has a stretched rear passenger cabin, plus a re-engineered climate control system for full bleed-air heating throughout the entire cabin. The Kodiak 900 cockpit has Garmin’s G1000 NXi integrated avionics. Both airplanes share the same wing and empennage. With its wheel fairings (responsible for an extra 10 knots of speed) and smaller, higher-pressure tires you won’t be taking the 900 into tight gravel bars or landing on the side of mountains, and that’s why demand for the Kodiak 100 bush model will continue. The published no-wind landing distance is 1460 feet at ISA conditions at max takeoff weight. It’s equipped with a 10-place oxygen system for cruising higher. Like the Kodiak 100, the new 900 is a decent short-field performer, getting off in 1015 feet at its 8000-pound max takeoff weight at ISA conditions, with the 900-SHP Pratt pulling strong to the airplane’s 25,000-foot operating ceiling, although Daher Kodiak’s chief demo pilot, Mark Brown, told me that pilots will typically fly the Kodiak 900 between 8000 and 12,000 feet. ![]() With 29-inch wheels and certified for float ops, the Kodiak 100 Series III will serve a slightly different mission than the faster 900. These features are standard on Daher’s Garmin G3000-equipped flagship TBM 960. While it has no shortage of performance with a 900-SHP Pratt PT6A-140A, it has fixed landing gear, a non-pressurized cabin, a stall-resistant wing and a healthy level of flight envelope protection from the Garmin G1000 NXi’s GFC 700 autopilot-a system that by now should be familiar to many. Still, I wondered why the airplane doesn’t have FADEC/autothrottle or Garmin’s emergency Autoland system and these were cost-based decisions, according to Daher Kodiak. Plus, in a hard insurance market where underwriters lose their mind at the thought of seniors and newbs at the controls of a turbine, the 900 should be a lower risk. Sandwiched between the TBM 910 and TBM 960 products, the Kodiak 900 invites step-ups from high-performance pistons, especially business owners with a need to haul up to 10 people and lots of stuff. The Kodiak 900 has been years in development and Daher brought it over the finish line in earning the FAA’s latest Part 23 Amendment 63 certification. The 100 series III is powered by a 750-SHP Pratt & Whitney PT6A-34 and has a 3530-pound max useful load. It also introduced the Kodiak 100 Series III with an increased 7255-pound landing weight, higher maximum zero-fuel weight for more payload, a refined cabin and plug-and-play fittings for the Aerocet composite amphibious floats. Since the 2019 acquisition, Daher has beefed up the Kodiak’s Sandpoint, Idaho, production site, which includes a 9000-square-foot paint facility-a $2.7 million investment that really stepped up the paint quality on the Kodiak line. Every Kodiak 900 has a multi-bay cargo pod that’s integrated into the airframe Moreover, it’s been clear that Daher is sharply focused on the Kodiak product line. To date, 313 Kodiak 100 models have been delivered, with 326,000 flight hours flown fleet-wide. Buyers needing a load-hauler for the deep outback and for water ops focus on the $2.2 million Kodiak 100, which cruises at roughly 40 knots slower. Spec’d at 210 knots true at 12,000 feet, the draw for the 900 is its speed and efficiency, plus hauling capability and a refined cabin. At NBAA-BACE 2022 Daher’s CEO, Nicolas Chabbert, told me operators pick the 100 and 900 for different reasons. With an integrated three-bay cargo pod and a 3630-pound useful load, the $3.6 million (typically equipped) 10-seat Kodiak 900 isn’t a replacement for the Kodiak 100 Series III backwoods turboprop, and Daher said the new 900 hasn’t taken sales away from the Kodiak 100 bush plane.
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