Quest Kodiak Missionary Flying Heavy Hauler

I love this airplane! But, will never own one because I don't make that much money! Why does flying have to be so expensive??? This baby will set you back $1.1 million.

1 in 10 go to mission groups, but the other 9 go to drug dealers and warlords to access those same remote areas and undo the good work.

It's STOL up to what weight?

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.