Quest Aircraft

Quest Aircraft Company is a Japanese-owned aircraft manufacturer located in Sandpoint, Idaho, United States. Quest was started in 2001 to design and provide aircraft suitable for domestic and international humanitarian applications.

In February 2015 the company was sold to Setouchi Holdings of Japan. Setouchi had been acting as a dealer for Quest and as a result of that relationship decided to purchase the company.

Mission

The company was founded primarily for the purpose of creating an aircraft specifically suited for the humanitarian and mission field. Quest Aircraft also works with multiple not-for-profit groups that partner with the company as Quest Mission Team members. The company business model is especially unique: the profits earned by selling the Kodiak commercially are used to subsidize the manufacturing of approximately every tenth aircraft, which is then delivered to a participating not-for-profit organization.

History

The earliest origins of Quest Aircraft can be traced back to 1998, when Idaho Air Group was founded by Tom Hamilton and David Voetmann. Tom and David saw a need to develop an aircraft uniquely suited to the rugged flying environment found in humanitarian aviation. After raising the necessary funding, the Quest Aircraft Company launched in 2001 with a staff of 14. After a 27,000 square foot facility was dedicated in 2002, work started on the first prototype aircraft, which led to the production of the Quest Kodiak turboprop.