Register
Aircraft

Pilatus PC-12: Tops in Range, Payload

When contemplating a Pilatus PC-12, you cant help but think of someone who went out to buy an all-terrain vehicle and came home with a luxury, all-wheel--drive motorhome that could go off-road. You have to look past the BMW-designed interior to discover that the Swiss-made turboprop was originally created for use in the Third World. It was thus conceived to be a utilitarian vehicle that was tough and capable enough to operate from short, dirt runways, could tanker lots of fuel because availability might be questionable and still carry on if something broke out in the bush.

Rick Durden
Verified

Wh

en contemplating a Pilatus PC-12, you cant help but think of someone who went out to buy an all-terrain vehicle and came home with a luxury, all-wheel–drive motorhome that could go off-road. You have to look past the BMW-designed interior to discover that the Swiss-made turboprop was originally created for use in the Third World. It was thus conceived to be a utilitarian vehicle that was tough and capable enough to operate from short, dirt runways, could tanker lots of fuel

Pilatus PC-12

because availability might be questionable and still carry on if something broke out in the bush.

For decades, Switzerland-based Pilatus has built airplanes to meet the demands of armed services throughout the world. The PC-12 continues the tradition, with a number of air forces (its the U-28A for the U.S. Air Force), as we’ll as law enforcement organizations operating them either as light transports or for surveillance as the PC-12 Spectre.

Nevertheless, the launch customer was the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia for its work in the extremes of the outback. With single-engine IFR certification under FAR Part 135 available, the PC-12 has also proven popular with charter operators.

To the minor amazement of its makers, once in service, the PC-12 proved to be popular with individuals who wanted to carry the family, the bicycles and most of the contents of their vacation cottage and then whistle off at 270 knots. Pilatus found that those folks were willing to pay the roughly $3.5 million price of the average equipped PC-12. As a result, more than 400 of the 700-plus PC-12s delivered to date have come into the western hemisphere through the Pilatus center at Denver Metro (formerly Jeffco) Airport in Broomfield, Colorado.

Smart System Design

The walkaround shows that despite the luxurious leather inside, the PC-12 was designed to work for its living in unpleasant conditions. Yet, with pressurization and retractable gear, the design philosophy is clearly different than the extreme simplicity of the other back country turboprop in production, the Cessna Caravan. At 60 PSI, the oversize tires carry low pressure for operation on unimproved runways.

Virtually all of the systems, as we’ll as the engine, can be accessed via doors or hatches that unlatch and swing open easily-only one access port has to be unscrewed during a 100-hour inspection. Lubrication oil quantity is checked via a sight gauge, reducing the chance of engine failure because someone forgot to

Rick Durden

Senior Editor Rick Durden has written for Aviation Consumer since 1994 and specializes in aviation law. Rick is an active CFII and holds an ATP with type ratings in the Douglas DC-3 and Cessna Citation. He is the author of The Thinking Pilot’s Flight Manual or, How to Survive Flying Little Airplanes and Have a Ball Doing It, Vols. 1 & 2.