Quest Aircraft Co., the Sandpoint, Idaho-based manufacturer of the Kodiak light airplane, says it has selected Parkwater Aviation, of Spokane, to provide flight-training services for commercial buyers of the Kodiak.

Parkwater Aviation, which has four employees, is a newly formed for-profit subsidiary of nonprofit Spokane Turbine Center, which is based here at Felts Field, says Julie Stone a Quest spokeswoman.

Parkwater will conduct the initial week-long Kodiak familiarization course that includes instruction in a classroom and in Spokane Turbine Center’s flight simulator, followed by two days of flying instruction in the aircraft, Stone says.

The training familiarizes pilots with the Kodiak and its avionics systems, which include specific communications, navigation, and other electronic equipment.

The center’s simulator, an enclosed virtual cockpit, displays computer-generated flight scenarios while it pivots on multiple axes to mimic the aircraft’s response to controls and flight conditions.

“Inside the simulator, the pilot is actually sitting in a true pilot seat with controls and is feeling what’s happening to the aircraft,” Stone says.

Previously, Quest personnel provided the instruction for its commercial customers at Spokane Turbine Center’s facility, using the center’s flight simulator, she says. Under the agreement, Parkwater will provide that function. The terms of the agreement weren’t disclosed.

Providing flight training for light airplanes isn’t new to Spokane Turbine Center, which has been conducting training courses in operating technically advanced aircraft to the mission-aviation community since 2009, and has a longstanding relationship with Quest.

The Kodiak aircraft is a single-engine turboprop utility plane that seats up to 10. It’s made for use in remote locales that often require short takeoffs and landings. It also can be fitted with floats for water landings and takeoffs.

The company manufactured its first Kodiak in 2007 and delivered its 100th aircraft last September.

Quest, which currently has 173 employees, produces up to three planes a month, Stone says.

Aviation entrepreneur Tom Hamilton originally designed the plane to serve remote humanitarian missions and backcountry commercial aviation needs.

Today, the planes are in service in at least 15 countries and are being used in a variety of applications by charter operators, small businesses, private consumers, and government agencies. Stone says that earlier this week, Quest delivered its first aircraft to a new dealer in Brazil.

Spokane Turbine Center owns and occupies a former Washington National Guard aviation facility, at 5627 E. Rutter, which includes a 9,800-square-foot office building and a 24,000-square-foot hangar.

It shares that space with Chicago-based Moody Bible Institute’s missionary aviation technology training program.