Lots of great points already posted. Here are some positives and negatives from an NG ownership perspective. We were initially looking for a /47 (NGs are technically /47Es). As Norm said, the /47s sell fast; only 110 or so made and the US Air Force owns a lot of them. We made several offers on /47 but they sold in a matter of hours so we expanded our search to NGs. Our typical missions are 300nm with 5-6 people and occasional 1000nm+ with 8-10 people.
Support
- Pilatus is ranked #1 in product customer support in Professional Pilot and AIN surveys for several years in a row. Pilatus is a private company focused on long term results, sometimes their long term views and focus on perfection can result in delays for fixing the small things mainly related to the Apex.
- Pilatus maintains tight control over who works on their airplanes and who can purchase the required tools and test sets. Some don't like this as they feel it drives up costs and decreases competition, but what it really does is improve support/reliability though issue reporting to Pilatus and PWC through trained mechanics that work in qualified service centers.
- The last several years, Pilatus has dedicated a lot of resources to the PC24, thus we have seen few improvements to new PC12s. With the PC24 certified and the Denali on the horizon, I think we will see bigger improvements to the PC12 in the next few years.
- strong and growing Owners and Pilots Association.
http://pilatusowners.org Operations
- Reliability is excellent. Out of the 1400 hours in the last 4 years, we have canceled 1 flight due to a maintenance issue. (related to the fire detection loop). Reliability is why you see so many fleet operators choose the PC12.
- Speed is mediocre but sufficient. I get a reliable 265 to 273 TAS depending on ISA. (5 blade prop) I don’t think the PC12 will see much speed improvements in the future. There is only so much speed that you can get out of that fat wing and still be able to land less than 1000’.
- IMO, the Honeywell Apex is simple but NOT intuitive and that’s why a lot of folks don’t like it initially. I needed a 100 hours before I appreciated it. The Apex uses Primus Epic operating system, architecture and bus system found in the “big iron,”Gulfstream/Falcons. Synthetic Vision, VNAV, FMS, loading approaches, and the redundancy make it a very capable system. The autopilot is rock solid. I love the CCD (trackball).
- Honeywell hasn’t understood how to deal with PC-12 owners or fleet operators. Honeywell is ranked one of the last in terms of avionics customer support and PC12 owners have felt the pain in the early years of the NG. All the issues are worked out now, but what frustrates me most is the untapped potential of the Apex.
- Annual inspections plus optional150hour inspection for part 91 ops. Pilatus will soon extend the 150hour inspection to 400hrs or annual whichever comes first. Annuals can usually be completed in 1.5 weeks.
- Dual zone temperature control (Cockpit & Cabin)
Safety
- 2 AOAs; dynamic speed bug. Approach speed is automatically bugged based on AOA (weight and flap settings). A low speed awareness shaker/stick pusher system based off AOAs.
- Simple to operate; single engine
- Wide CG range
- Excellent glide ratio; 16:1 glide ratio; from 30,000’ can glide for 32 minutes or 90 miles.
- Low stall speed; less energy to dissipate at landing or crash landing
- Fuel System - automatic fuel balancing; redundant fuel delivery; no fuel lines in cabin
- PC-12 has one of the lowest accident rates of all GA turbine powered aircraft
My upgrade/improvement list:
- reduce cabin noise; it’s not bad, but I think Pilatus can get it better using some of the “tuning forks” technology that the newer King Airs have.
- Improve Apex database update speed/process; not bad but takes :30 min to do a complete update.
- option to sync pilot and co-pilot intercom settings
- Automatically bug cruise power settings based off current conditions
- Use XM winds aloft to improve accuracy of destination fuel computation (its pretty darn accurate now but for long flights you have to manually enter forecast winds aloft data into the FMS otherwise it just uses current ground speed)
Of course, one of the best features for owners is value retention, as JC says, really cuts your total cost of ownership. PC12s make more financial sense for higher utilization operators.
Resources besides this thread for those interested in purchasing a PC12.
http://pilatusowners.org/pc-12-buyers-info/In addition, my usual trips are day trips out of KSJT so any BTers are welcome to ride along to learn more about the PC12