We Fly: Pilatus PC-12 Pro

‘Everybody’s Everything’ earns its place as the single-engine turboprop that can do it all.

Rick Durden

Monday, December 15, 2025 at 08:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

The PC-12 series has a reputation for a long center of gravity range...unless you’re carrying gold bricks in weird locations, it’s difficult to load the airplane out of CG. [Credit: Pilatus Aircraft]

Key Takeaways:

The Pilatus PC-12 Pro is an updated single-engine turboprop that enhances the aircraft's established versatility with improved useful load, faster cruise speed, and refined cabin features like quick-release seats.
Its most significant upgrade is the new Garmin G3000 Prime integrated flight deck, customized for Pilatus, which offers a streamlined, pilot-friendly interface and advanced automation.
The G3000 Prime flight deck incorporates numerous cutting-edge safety features, including Safety Autoland, Emergency Descent Mode, Electronic Stability and Protection (ESP), and advanced weather radar and airport awareness systems.
The PC-12 Pro builds on its reputation as a highly flexible aircraft, capable of serving diverse missions from luxury transport to medevac and cargo hauling, earning it the nickname "Everybody's Everything."

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In the more than 30 years the Pilatus PC-12 has been in service, its unique combination of speed, load-carrying ability, massive cargo door, large, flat-floored cabin, operating flexibility in high-density terminals as well as the backcountry, and fuel efficiency has caused it to acquire several flattering nicknames, including, and perhaps most accurate, the “Flying Turbine Suburban.”

However, after two days of flying the recently released PC-12 Pro, with its new Garmin G3000 Prime integrated flight deck (customized for Pilatus) and another 100 pounds of useful load, I came away unable to stop thinking of the title of Carlos Santana’s 1971 hard-driving rock song, “Everybody’s Everything.”