Daher has opened a new paint facility at the Kodiak Aircraft Company’s production site in Sandpoint, Idaho. The 9,000-sq-ft paint shop cost $2.7 million and includes separate preparation and paint bays. The facility mirrors the one at Daher’s TBM factory in Tarbes, France.
New-production Kodiak 100s and 900s had previously been flown to other locations for painting following their completion. The new onsite facility allows major components—such as fuselage, wings, control surfaces, cowlings, and doors—to be painted after manufacture before being flowed directly into the final assembly process. Electrostatic painting is employed; this technique makes the operation more environmentally friendly and also creates a better paint finish.
The new paint shop is one of a number of investments parent company Daher has made since it acquired Kodiak in 2019. In 2021, it launched the improved Kodiak 100 Series III with increased landing and maximum zero-fuel weights, and a corresponding rise in useful payload.
Powered by a 750-shp PT6A-135, the Series III is compatible with plug-and-play Aerocet floats. It will be fitted from 2024 with a five-blade Hartzell composite propeller as standard. The new prop improves takeoff performance and reduces noise, and it is available as a retrofit for earlier Kodiak 100s.
Last year, the stretched Kodiak 900 with the 900-shp PT6A-140A was introduced. This accommodates a pilot and nine passengers and can cruise at 210 knots, with a maximum range of 1,129 nm.
As of October 15, a total of 331 Kodiaks had been delivered and the global fleet had racked up 375,000 flight hours. Deliveries of the 900 are underway, with the third aircraft having been handed over to a U.S. customer in July. Deliveries to customers in Europe will begin imminently.
The 900 has proved a popular addition, and Daher has a two-year order backlog for the turboprop single. The company reports that new sales are divided roughly equally between the 100 and 900.
In related news, and in line with the company’s environmental drive, Daher is introducing a bio-derived deicing fluid for the Kodiak (and legacy TB 20/21) aircraft. The TKS 406 Bio fluid is a replacement for the petrochemical-based DTD-406B and will be available starting in January.