Aircraft for Your Escape to Kiawah Island

The Pilatus PC-12 NGX and the Daher TBM 960 offer speed, style and cargo carrying capabilities.

Thursday, October 20, 2022 at 11:20 AM ET

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With its 2,236-pound payload, the Pilatus PC-12 NGX can carry up to 10 passengers, plus a pilot, and/or a lot of stuff, making it a versatile mount for your vacation to the South Carolina coast. [Credit: Pilatus]

Key Takeaways:

The article presents two high-performance turboprop aircraft, the Pilatus PC-12 NGX and Daher TBM 960, as ideal choices for travel to destinations like Kiawah Island, balancing speed and capacity.
The Pilatus PC-12 NGX is highlighted for its exceptional versatility, offering a large payload capacity for up to 10 passengers or significant cargo via a large door, cruising at speeds up to 290 ktas.
The Daher TBM 960 emphasizes "speed & style," boasting a faster max cruise of 326 ktas, an updated FADEC-controlled engine, and a Garmin G3000 avionics suite with advanced safety features like HomeSafe autoland.
Both aircraft feature modern cockpits with advanced avionics and efficient engine management systems, providing sophisticated options for business or leisure travel.

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For your trip to Kiawah Island—or the fine city of Charleston—you want to arrive in style, and in an airplane that can keep up. Whether you’re running with the bizjets at Charleston Executive, or following a Lockheed C-130 on final at the joint-use Charleston Air Force Base/International Airport, speedwise, our two choices can match whatever speed ATC needs you to maintain—and allow you to take along what you need for your adventure.

READ MORE: Discover Kiawah Island

All the Gear: Pilatus PC-12 NGX

If you just can’t bear to leave any gear at home—but you still need more speed than a Cessna Caravan would offer—you might choose the Pilatus PC-12 NGX. The PC-12’s Pratt & Whitney PT6E-67XP turboprop powerplant pulls the aircraft’s max gross weight of 10,450 pounds through the air at speeds up to 290 ktas.