Matt Thurber, editor-in-chief at AIN Media Group, has been flying since 1975 and writing about aviation since 1978 and now has the best job in the world, running editorial operations for Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, and FutureFlight.aero. In addition to working as an A&amp;P mechanic on everything from Piper Cubs to turboprops, Matt taught flying at his father’s flight school in Plymouth, Mass., in the early 1980s, flew for an aircraft owner/pilot, and for two summer seasons hunted swordfish near the George’s Banks off the East Coast from a Piper Super Cub. An ATP certificated fixed-wing pilot and CFII and commercial helicopter pilot, Matt is type-rated in the Citation 500 and Gulfstream V/550. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Matt and his team cover the entire aviation scene including business aircraft, helicopters, avionics, safety, manufacturing, charter, fractionals, technology, air transport, advanced air mobility, defense, and other subjects of interest to AIN, BJT, and FutureFlight readers.

Editor-in-Chief

Matt Thurber

The owners of the nearly 400 Kodiak turboprop singles that have been produced now have an owners group to provide a community resource for safety, adventure flying, and advocacy. The Kodiak Owners and Pilots Society (KOPS) was created earlier this year and soft-launched at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in July and formally launched earlier this month. KOPS held its first member event, the inaugural 2025 Fly-Out and Convention, at JL Bar Ranch, Resort &amp; Spa in Sonora, Texas, from October 3 to 5, which saw 11 Kodiaks flown in for the event.
KOPS was founded by Mark Brown, owner of aircraft management firm 11 Aviation and, with more than 8,000 hours in Kodiaks, the highest-time Kodiak pilot; John Hunt, former v-p of sales for Kodiak; and Kodiak owner Brett Ekblom. Quest Aircraft received FAA certification for the Kodiak 100 in 2007, with an aim to serving the missionary market. In 2019, Daher purchased the company and expanded the product lineup with the speedier Kodiak 900.
“We saw there was a need for an owners group,” said Brown, who is leading KOPS’ training and operational initiatives. “Community is the big one, getting owners and pilots together. Safety is number two. We have a good start on quite a few initiatives dealing with training, safety, and insurance. We have some partnerships in the works to bring sizable insurance discounts predicated on training events, but nothing official to announce just yet.”
The other two pillars of KOPS include adventure and advocacy, he explained. “Adventure is [the Kodiak’s] DNA, and we’re trying to do something different than other owner groups. A lot of conventions involve sitting in a room, as opposed to enjoying what they’re all there for: the passion and love for aircraft.”
To that end, KOPS events will mostly involve fly-outs with a focus on the airplane. During the fly-out in Texas, an owner-maintenance clinic helped Kodiak pilots learn more about their airplanes, with experts from the service center network leading the session. “It’s geared toward what owners can do better to look out for their airplanes and different flying techniques that might help longevity,” Brown said.
After that, KOPS held a spot-landing contest, where pilots had to land as close as possible to a line drawn on the private airport’s 6,000-foot runway. “This was the most fun part of the event and the most talked about,” he said. “There were strict rules; if you landed before the line or bounced, it didn’t count. It was a friendly competition among owners, with lots of training and briefs before and after.” The winner earned a free training course with 11Aviation.
<img alt="Kodiak airplanes at the KOPS event" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="e65fa00e-c0ce-49c9-b6ce-0bd7ffc77458" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/Kodiaks%20at%20KOPS.jpg" width="8192" height="5464" loading="lazy">
KOPS members enjoyed gourmet dining in the evenings, while during the day, family members participated in horseback riding, ATV excursions, and spa sessions. Long-range rifle maker Gunwerks did demonstrations of its precision firearms.
Next year, KOPS plans at least two conventions, in the Western and Eastern U.S., so Kodiak owners don’t have to fly all the way across the country to attend. “We don’t expect people to fly from New York to California,” Brown said. There will also be smaller KOPS fly-outs, he added, such as “an adventure trip geared toward training and flying.”
“The Kodiak has a truly unique DNA,” said KOPS co-founder Hunt, “and this exceptional community of owners deserves a home built on the same principles as the aircraft itself—one built to do good. When we first introduced KOPS to fellow owners at Oshkosh…the enthusiasm was immediate. This weekend’s public launch and historic turnout confirm what we knew then: the Kodiak community was ready for something built by owners, for owners.”

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