This is half question... half gripe!

We have a client's newly contracted PC-12 in prebuy right now and I expect everything to be a little pricey... limited number of shops, higher cost. I get that.

BUT... we're getting quotes for things like paint and interior, avionics upgrades, etc. It is starting to feel like the price goes up when you say Pilatus. Any one else experience this?

The one that is really bothering me... why does it cost more to paint a PC-12 than a King Air 200? (at the same facility)

I've never painted my Pilatus but I have gotten quotes and they are all over the board. Not all paint shops are the same I suppose. Just like anything you gotta call around.

Very true and there is definitely a huge difference in shops, but in this case we have stayed with first class paint shops and while there is some variation between them they're relatively close... they just happen to be $10 - $20k higher than what they'll do the King Air for!

I'm sure that when I have a contractor come over to quote some project, I'm getting the "nice house" price.

Very true and there is definitely a huge difference in shops, but in this case we have stayed with first class paint shops and while there is some variation between them they're relatively close... they just happen to be $10 - $20k higher than what they'll do the King Air for!

I've heard anywhere from 35k to 65k for a PC12 paint job.

As far as comparing the Pilatus shop costs against ohers, I have never owned another turboprop but I don't think shop rates are anymore expensive than our 340. I can say that the quality is much better. They (Greenpoint is who we use) fix it right the first time and on time. Inspections are quick, ontime, and the airplane comes out without squawks. That's worth any premium that I pay in parts.

Chip, curious what a typical 200 costs to paint at a first class shop?

Chip, SureFlight currently has the painting contract for the largest civilian PC-12 operator in the world, so we paint a lot of PC-12's

It is more man hours work to paint a PC-12 compared to a King Air. A lot more parts come off to paint them properly.

West Star in Grand Junction paints the new ones for Pilatus, they will tell you the same. There is just more involved in properly painting a PC-12.

$50 - $60k

Thanks Dan, that is what I was looking for... not sure why the other shops didn't have a good answer for such an obvious question!

$50 - $60k

Thanks Chip. Less than I thought...

Those lowest bidder paint jobs really stand out on the ramp

Damn, I find that hard to believe. I'm sure it's true, just seems weird to me.

What additional parts are there on a PC12 that are not a B200 that have to come off?

Hi Michael:

A PC-12 has a lot of composite fairings. In general, the additional cost is removing and reinstalling composite parts and the processes involved in prepping composite parts for paint. If you get chemical stripper on any composite part, it will destroy the part.

Look close at your PC-12 you will see all the composite cowlings and parts. Even the wing root fairings are composite. They have to be removed in order to strip the wings and fuselage. Then you have to mask those areas off for strip, and again for paint.

On a PC-12 there are even 12 separate composite fairings that have to come off to remove the flaps.

Composite parts have to be mechanically stripped (sanded). There are some paint shops that won't do composite aircraft because it is time consuming and if you don't know what you are doing, you can destroy a part.

SureFlight specializes in painting composite aircraft. We paint a lot of OEM Sikorsky and Leonardo (Agusta Westland) helicopters which are mostly composite airframes and cowlings. We just painted Greg Mink (Premiere 1 Driver)'s Premier 1A, which is a composite airframe. Here is a shot early on in the process. You can see with the Premier in order to strip the wing properly we need to remove the composite fairings.
A PC-12 wing root fairing is not as big as this, but the same principle applies.

A King Air on the other hand is an all aluminum airframe. You foil tape off windows and seams, etc. and chemically strip it. None of this extra composite stuff to deal with.

Hope this helps take the "weirdness" out of it

Dan