Pilatus PC-24

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Pilatus PC-24
PC-24 comes back to Stans from the test flight
Type: Jet plane
Design country:

SwitzerlandSwitzerland Switzerland

Manufacturer:

Pilatus Aircraft

First flight:

May 11, 2015

Commissioning:

2017

Production time:

since 2017

Number of pieces:

68
(three prototypes)

The Pilatus PC-24 is a twin- engine aircraft type manufactured by the Swiss manufacturer Pilatus Aircraft and is used, among other things, as a business jet . It is the first jet aircraft from the Pilatus company, but has the same capabilities as the PC-12 with turboprop propulsion and is approved for operation off natural slopes.

history

Development of the PC-24 began in 2008 and the concept was presented to the public in May 2013 at the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE) in Geneva . The rollout of the prototype with registration HB-VXA took place on Switzerland's national holiday , August 1, 2014, after which the engines were assembled and tested for the first time on February 18, 2015 at Buochs ​​airfield . On May 11, 2015 at 10 a.m., the aircraft took off there on its first flight, which lasted around an hour. The second prototype HB-VXB had its maiden flight on November 16, 2015. Within two days in 2014, the first offered series of 84 aircraft was firmly sold. Aircraft could not be ordered again until May 2019. With this approach, Pilatus wanted to ensure that the company could deliver everything that was promised.

Part of the test program took place with the first prototype in Granada and with the second prototype in Arizona in order to be more independent of weather conditions. The pilots and technicians were trained by a contractor in the United States. The first flight of the third and final prototype “P03” HB-VSA took place on March 6, 2017. After the test flights with prototypes were successful, Pilatus decided to invest 200 million francs in series production. The Stans and Broomfield , Colorado sites were expanded. In 2017, series production was again announced at the EBACE in Geneva.

On December 7, 2017, the PC-24 received type certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) . On December 11, 2017, the first flight of the first series aircraft , the future N124AF, took place under the Pilatus factory registration HB-VSB . The transfer flight from Buochs ​​to the USA to the first customer PlaneSense took place on January 30, 2018. In total, well over CHF 500 million had been spent on the development of the aircraft and thus the budgeted expenditure was significantly exceeded. For the training, Pilatus cooperates with the company FlightSafety, which operates a flight simulator in Dallas , Texas ; in Europe, FlightSafety installed a flight simulator (level D) in Paris .

On November 26, 2018, the first machine was handed over to the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia . A total of 23 aircraft were produced in 2018 and 18 of them were delivered. The first military user of the Pilatus PC-24 has been the air transport service of the Confederation of the Swiss Air Force since February 18, 2019, which operates flights from Bern-Belp Airport for the Swiss government .

Since the beginning of 2020, the aircraft has also been approved for grass and snow landings, after the corresponding certifications for dry sand and gravel runways had already been achieved in 2018.

commitment

The machine can be used both as a business jet and for rescue flights or freight transport. Take-offs and landings are also possible from unpaved runways. Due to its variable cabin concept, Pilatus introduced the term "Super Versatile Jet" for the PC-24, which allows up to 11 passengers to be transported with one pilot.

Orders

At the beginning, Pilatus decided to sell only the production from 2017-2019, planned 84 aircraft, and closed the order book after all machines had been found in July 2014. From May 9, 2019 PC-24 could be ordered again. The prize was without discounts with about 9 million US dollars given. The price was increased significantly by around twenty percent after the first series. The number of aircraft actually produced was 68 aircraft at the beginning of December 2019.

customer number Remarks
United Arab EmiratesUnited Arab Emirates Falcon Aviation Services 2 Operator of a service center for PC-12
LuxembourgLuxembourg Jetfly 4th
United StatesUnited States PlaneSense 6th
AustraliaAustralia Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia 3
SwedenSweden Svenskt Ambulansflyg 6th
United StatesUnited States U-Haul International 2
SwitzerlandSwitzerland Premium Jet AG 1
SwitzerlandSwitzerland Swiss Air Force 1
Private customers 67
All in all 91

gallery

  • PC-24 at the roll out in Stans 2014

  • Underside of the PC-24 with a view of the wing geometry

  • 3. Prototype HB-VSA at the Aero Friedrichshafen 2018

  • State aircraft PC-24 T-786 of the Swiss Air Force

Military users

  • SwitzerlandSwitzerland Switzerland : 1 × Swiss Air Force (T-786)

Technical data and equipment

The PC-24 is one of the small business jets and is designed for commercial flight operations with only one pilot, which was among other things a requirement of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia . This is why the machine has an automatic throttle control ("autothrottle"). This system enables the configuration of flight performance parameters for the different phases of a flight already on the ground in order to reduce the workload of the pilot in single-pilot operation and is an exception for aircraft of this size or smaller. The system can be found in smaller business jets, for example, in the single-engine TBM-940 turboprop from the French manufacturer Therefore. The PC-24's standard avionics are the Apex package from the US manufacturer Honeywell with four screens; the series also includes a synthetic vision system . It is equipped with a towed landing gear for landing on unpaved runways . A large cargo door is installed as standard and allows pallets to be loaded with a forklift .

Technical data of the PC-24
length 16.82 m
span 17 m
Cabin length 7.01 m
Cabin width 1.69 m
Cabin height 1.55 m
Cabin volume 14.2 m³
Cargo door size 1.30 m × 1.25 m
drive 2 × Williams International FJ44 -4A
Max. Altitude 13,716 m / 45,000 ft
Cruising speed 440 kt or 815 km / h TAS
Range 3400 km (6 PAX) or 3769 km (4 PAX)

Trivia

During the rollout, the aircraft was pulled by 24 train horses from the Swiss Army.

See also

Web links

Commons : Pilatus PC-24  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Pilatus PC-24 completes its maiden flight. Flug Revue, May 11, 2015, accessed on March 17, 2016 .
  2. ↑ a b Aircraft Register. In: Federal Office for Civil Aviation (FOCA). February 28, 2019, accessed December 11, 2019 .
  3. ↑ a b c Erich Aschwanden: Celebrated roll-out of the Pilatus PC-24. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . August 2, 2014, accessed April 10, 2015 .
  4. ↑ PC-24: First flight in May. In: Aerokurier . January 6, 2015, accessed April 10, 2015 .
  5. ↑ Urs Helbling: Secret project: The high flyers from Stans. In: blick.ch . Ringier AG, February 10, 2013, accessed on March 28, 2013 .
  6. ↑ PC-24 is now picking up speed , Luzerner Zeitung, February 19, 2015
  7. ↑ Second PC-24 takes off for the first flight. In: Flight Revue . November 16, 2015, accessed February 23, 2016 .
  8. ↑ Great interest in the PC-24 Super Versatile Jet - order book open again , Cockpit, May 20, 2019
  9. ↑ “The Federal Council said it could haggle over the price” , Der Bund, June 6, 2016
  10. ^ Mark Huber: Pilatus Gears Up for PC-24. AIN Online, October 22, 2014, accessed March 17, 2016 .
  11. ↑ Aircraft Register - Details: HB-VSA. In: Federal Office for Civil Aviation (FOCA). February 21, 2017. Retrieved February 28, 2019 .
  12. ↑ Volker K. Thomalla: Step by Step . In: Flight Revue . No. 10 , 2015, p. 40-42 .
  13. ↑ Sergio Aiolfi: Pilatus is celebrating success - despite significant losses. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung. April 28, 2017, accessed on February 28, 2019 : “The test flights with prototypes were successful, which is why it was decided to invest CHF 200 million in series production. With this in mind, Pilatus is expanding its locations in Stans and Broomfield (in the US state of Colorado). "
  14. ↑ p.m.: Pilatus presents the series standard of the PC-24 in Geneva. In: Lucerne newspaper. May 18, 2017. Retrieved February 28, 2019 .
  15. ^ "Press release from Pilatus Flugzeugwerke AG" ( Memento from December 9, 2017 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on December 9, 2017
  16. ↑ Pilatus Delivers PC-24 Super Versatile Jet to Launch Customer, PlaneSense. In: pilatus-aircraft.com. Pilatus Group, February 7, 2018, accessed on February 14, 2018 .
  17. ↑ New business jet is expensive for Pilatus-Werke , NZZ, December 9, 2017
  18. ↑ Volker K. Thomalla: FlightSafety will soon also be offering PC-24 training in Europe. In: Aerobuzz. October 15, 2018, accessed February 28, 2019 .
  19. ↑ Jürgen Schelling: Pilatus PC-24 flies as an ambulance jet for Flying Doctor Service in Australia. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung. November 27, 2018, accessed February 28, 2019 .
  20. ↑ a b Pilatus is beating the drum for the first Swiss business jet , NZZ, May 20, 2019
  21. ↑ Dominik Feldges: Pilatus hands over new private jet to Federal Council. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung. 2019, accessed February 28, 2019 .
  22. ↑ Pilatus PC-24 receives approval for grass, mud and snow , Handelszeitung, February 7, 2020
  23. ↑ PC-24 | The Super Versatile Jet | Pilatus Flugzeugwerke AG. Retrieved February 10, 2020 .
  24. ↑ Pilatus is again accepting orders for the PC-24 , accessed on May 12, 2019
  25. ↑ Kate Sarsfield: EBACE: Pilatus joins the Jet Set with PC-24. In: Flightglobal.com. May 21, 2013, accessed March 17, 2016 .
  26. ↑ Swedish Air Rescue orders six PC-24s. aeroTELEGRAPH.com, January 22, 2018, accessed January 22, 2018 .
  27. ↑ HB-VLX
  28. ^ Federal Council and Nestlé boss buy the new PC-24. In: tagesanzeiger.ch . August 2, 2014, accessed April 10, 2015 .
  29. ↑ TBM 940. In: Turboprop Aircraft - DAHER TBM 930, TBM 910, TBM 900, TBM 850, TBM 700. Accessed February 10, 2020 .
  30. ↑ Patrick Holland-Moritz: Summiteer . In: FlugRevue . No. 3/2018 , February 5, 2018, p. 36-40 .
  31. ↑ Manufacturer's aircraft data sheet. (PDF; 2.2 MB) (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on December 12, 2014 ; accessed on August 5, 2014 .