Pilatus PC-12
The Pilatus PC-12 is a single-engine turboprop passenger and cargo aircraft manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland. The main market for the aircraft is corporate transport and regional airliner operators.
Development
Pilatus announced the development of the PC-12 at the National Business Aircraft Association's annual convention in October 1989. The first flight of the first of two prototypes took place on 31 May 1991. Certification of the type was originally planned for mid-1991 but a redesign of the wings (increase of wing span and addition of winglets to ensure performance guarantees were met) delayed this. Swiss certification finally took place on 30 March 1994 and FAA approval followed on 15 July 1994.
Design
As with many other Pilatus aircraft, the PC-12 is powered by a single Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-67B turboprop engine. It is certified for single-pilot IFR operations, though operators may choose to utilize a second flight crew member.
The U-28A is the US Air Force variant of the PC-12, and was selected for its versatile performance characteristics and ability to operate from short and unimproved runway surfaces. The U-28A is also certified to land on dirt and grass strips.
Variants
- Nine-seat standard passenger airliner.
- Six to eight seat executive corporate transport.
- Four-seat passenger/cargo combination.
- All-cargo transport.
The PC-12M (the M stands for multipurpose) version, is based on the basic PC-12 but equipped with a more powerful electrical generation system in order to enable the integration of additional power-consuming equipment. This enables the PC-12M to perform special mission tasks such as flight inspection, air ambulance, parachutist dropping, aerial photography and aerial surveillance. This version is marketed in the United States as the PC-12 Spectre paramilitary special missions platform.
Operators
Civilian Users
Most PC-12s are currently used as corporate transports, but recent regulatory changes in Australia, Brazil, Canada and the United States have cleared single engine turboprops such as the PC-12 for regional passenger transport operations in those nations. This has opened up a new potential market for the PC-12 as a regional airliner, in order to replace older twin piston-engined aircraft.
Planesense, a New Hampshire-based fractional ownership company, is the largest fractional operator of PC-12s in the world, currently operating 28 PC-12s.[1] Their aircraft have logged over 70,000 flight hours. They subject there pilots to a six day on and four day off schedule which is below the industry standard and leaves most of there pilots fatigued and unsafe. The Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia is the second largest fleet operator (single company) in the world with 19 PC-12 aircraft having logged more than 110,000 hours.
More than 700 PC-12s have been sold as of April 2007.
Military Users
Bulgaria : Bulgarian Air Force, since 2003.
United States : A squadron was created to fly single-engine U-28As for intra-theater support of special operations forces. The 319th Special Operations Squadron is stationed at Hurlburt Field, Florida at the headquarters of the Air Force Special Operations Command. These aircraft first deployed for operational use in August 2005.[citation needed]
Specifications (nine-passenger PC-12)
General characteristics
- Crew: one or two pilots
- Capacity: 9 passengers standard, 6-8 executive
- Maximum landing: 4,700 kg (10,450 lb)
- Maximum payload full fuel: 539 kg (1,189 lb)
- Tail wingspan: 5.20 m (17 ft 1 in)
- Propeller: Hartzell HC - E4A - 3D/E10477K – 4 blade aluminum
- Propeller diameter: 2.67 m (8 ft 9 in)
- Propeller RPM: 1,700 rpm constant speed
Performance
- Range 0 passenger: 4,149 km (2,593 mi) (2,239 nm)
- Range 9 passenger: 2,804 km (1,753 mi) (1,513 nm)
- Takeoff distance over 15 m (50 ft) obstacle: 701 m (2,300 ft)
- Takeoff distance ground roll: 450 m (1,475 ft)
- Landing distance over 15 m (50 ft) obsacle: 558 m (1,830 ft)
- Landing distance ground roll: 228 m (945 ft)
References
- The information on the U-28A was purportedly obtained from an official United States Air Force fact sheet
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