WE FLY: PILATUS' NEW PC-12 NGX

The latest edition of the popular single-engine turboprop will make any jet pilot feel right at home.

- ROB MARK

I FIRST FLEW A PILATUS PC-12 MODEL 10 BACK IN 2008 AND FOUND IT MADE A NICE, STABLE INSTRUMENT PLATFORM. AT 270 KNOTS, IT WAS NO JET, BUT A WALK THROUGH THAT GARGANTUAN CABIN ON THE GROUND WITH THE MASSIVE REAR CARGO DOOR OPEN MADE NO BONES ABOUT THE PLANE’S ABILITY TO CARRY TONS OF STUFF.

I think I called it an airborne Chevy Suburban. Pilatus chief pilot Jed Johnson offered a more descriptive tag line when I was in Broomfield, Colorado, for a December 2019 visit to Pilatus Business Aircraft, calling it a “turbine Suburban.”

No matter what nickname you give it, the PC-12 is famous for being able to haul a couple of Harleys and a few passengers out to a dirt strip and back (see “A Little PC-12 History” for more on the models). In fact, Pilatus specifically designed the PC-12 with a T-tail to make using a forklift possible while loading cargo through that big aft door. Johnson said, originally, Pilatus just saw the airplane as a robust utility, cargo and military airplane that was only later transformed into a luxury vehicle. Pilatus vice president of marketing Tom Aniello said it was actually the dealers who saw the potential for the PC-12 once the interior was spiffed up.

With 1,750 PC-12s built to date, new NGX owners— AIRabout 10 percent of whom will operate it single pilot—can carry a 2,000-pound load on a 3½-hour IFR flight with reserves and feel as though they were operating a light jet, except for the NGX’s 290-knot top speed. Adding to the airplane’s own capabilities is the venerable Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 powerplant, which already has about 8 million flight hours under its belt, and Honeywell’s proven Epic avionics system.