Pilatus

Toy hauler, corporate transport, rescue platform. A look at the airplane that can do it all.

__It was a typical November day along the Front Range in Colorado at Rocky Mountain Metro Airport (Jeffco). Against an almost too-perfect sky, the wind was flowing downstream from the west, whistling through the struts and tiedown ropes of the airplanes parked on the wide-open ramp. Looking west toward the Rockies, the sight was a […]

Pilatus this month is introducing a series of long-awaited improvements to the Honeywell Primus Apex cockpit in the Pilatus PC-12 NG turboprop single. Known internally as Apex Build 7, the software enhancements refine the operation of the cockpit’s cursor-control devices and add capabilities for display of enhanced-vision and video; coupled Vnav operations, vertical profile display; […]

Pilatus PC-12 NG does things other airplanes can’t and costs less.

__Many pilots want to fly a 1,000-mile trip nonstop. That’s about the distance from New York to southern Florida, or from Chicago to Miami, or from Atlanta to Aspen. And people want to take along all of their family, friends and stuff on these trips. A bunch of airplanes can fly the 1,000-mile trip downwind, […]

Larry Turley first decided he wanted to be a pilot when he was a teenager, working the line for an FBO in Augusta, Georgia, and the Master’s Golf Tournament came to town. “Arnold Palmer and the other pros landed their jets and pulled out gas credit cards,” Turley remembers with a laugh. “I’d never seen […]

Since its certification back in 1994, the hallmark of the remarkably successful Pilatus PC-12 turboprop single has been its tremendous flexibility and utility — with a cabin full of passengers and cargo, it can go from a cozy dirt strip to the city lights a thousand miles distant, flying far above the terrain and much […]

Swiss airframer Pilatus announced it has received FAA and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) approval for its Next Generation Pilatus PC-12, to be designated PC-12 NG. The central element to the new version of the popular turboprop single is the Primus Apex avionics suite, and a new cockpit design from BMW Group DesignworksUSA. The Pilatus […]

Whenever I’m around a Pilatus PC-12, either standing on the ramp, or inside the cockpit or cabin, I am dazzled by the size of this turboprop single. The wingspan is more than 53 feet. The tail is 14 feet above the pavement. And the cabin is as roomy as some midsize business jets. The PC-12 […]