cthelder (July 5, 2009 at 6:13 am)

A Caravan is better on longer wel prepared runways for Commuter or freight operations. I fly one for a FedEx feeder. Great for what it was designed for but it's not a true STOL airraft. If I needed something to get out of 1000ft runways I would get a Kodiak or a Porter . Kodiak is also a great plane for the private owner who flies with 6 passengers or less most of the time. Caravan is overkill in that case plus the Kodiak is faster. Both great planes for their specific mission.

pathyskeeter (June 26, 2009 at 10:16 am)

After flying the Caravan, Helio Super Courier, C-180, Turbine Tailwheel BE18H, Super Cub, Cub, C-140, C-170B, Cub, Legend Cub, most of the Piper series single and twin, etc., I am hard pressed to put my confidence in a nose wheel especially when operating on rough gravel strips or on wet grass.

ryanapem (March 24, 2009 at 5:43 pm)

So many people here are commenting on how the Kodiak is simply a small Caravan. Before making any more comments like that please do some research! They are different airplanes, built for different rolls. As far as the Kodiak's performance, the only airplane I have ever flown with similar performance is the Pilatus PC-6 Porter. The Porter however is $500,000 more and 50 knots slower. The Kodiak is a phenomenal airplane and will do wonderful things!

hjz000 (January 11, 2009 at 5:20 am)

A 3/4 version baby Caravan that can do 200kts+ and T/O and land in 700ft or less for $1.5M- will be an ultimate toy. I just bought a nice book on Caravan, "Caravan, Cessna's Swiss Army Knife with Wings!". Not the best written but has a lot of information. For example, the cabin height of Kodiak is actuall higher than Caravan. So the total cabin volume is similar even though it is more than 4ft shorter.

lgday (January 10, 2009 at 10:17 am)

with a tricycle landing gear i can't see this airplane operating in any really rough fields. also without a ski option the aircraft seems to be limited to more benign climates.

hjz000 (December 7, 2008 at 7:17 am)

As we know aircraft design is all about compromise. It is harder for me to believe that you can make some improvement over a Cessna without some other compromise. I'm interested in knowing what are the particular features Kodiak has and why they are not available on the Caravan?

Kzanol69 (December 4, 2008 at 6:09 am)

I find it interesting that Quest has tested the Kodiak on floats, but they never gave us any performance figures for water operation, anyone else think the stall speed is too high for a floatplane? I think the beaver and otter are going to be around for another 50 years yet

WarSawGS (November 19, 2008 at 12:25 am)

It's kinds funny how people are on here talking bad about this plane. I work at quest and the Caravan is NOTHING LIKE THE KODIAK. There are alot of features on the Kodiak that the Caravan can not touch, Look at some of the video's on Youtube, The Kodiak has taken off in as short as 290 feet, yes it was empty but lets see the Caravan do that. thats the only thing I haft to say, Dont bash on a plane that is ment to do good in this world.

hjz000 (October 25, 2008 at 4:19 am)

It looks with full fuel, Kodiak carries more with 1260lbs vs 1090 for the Caravan 675; flies further 1075 vs 946 nm; take off/land in much shorter distance; same cruise at around 190kts; and cheaper to buy and burns less fuel per hour. So it beats Caravan in every espect.Of course, these all based on the published specs. Hope it will hold true in real world.It will be an ultimate toy for people with some money.

eagle4528 (October 24, 2008 at 1:52 am)

hey guys, quest didn't set out to copy the caravan at all. after doing extensive research they found that design was best suited for the intentions of what the airplane was being designed to do. if you want to haul a bunch of weight and use up 1200ft of runway the caravan is a better choice. but if you're in a jungle in central or south america and only have at best just under 1000 ft the caravan is a life saver. right now they use c-206's for this and they can't haul as much as a kodiak.

BuBuTheButterfly (October 4, 2008 at 4:18 am)

Cessna Caravan move over.

pope007 (September 12, 2008 at 6:40 pm)

cessna caravan watch out!!!!!!