The Pilatus PC-24 is a light
business jet
A business jet, private jet, or bizjet is a jet aircraft designed for transporting small groups of people. Business jets may be adapted for other roles, such as the evacuation of casualties or express parcel deliveries, and some are used by pub ...
produced by
Pilatus Aircraft
Pilatus Aircraft Ltd. is an aerospace manufacturer located in Stans, Switzerland. In June 2016, the company employed 1,905 people.
The company has mostly produced aircraft for niche markets, in particular short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraf ...
of Switzerland.
Following the success of the
PC-12
The Pilatus PC-12 is a pressurized, single-engined, turboprop aircraft, manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Stans, Switzerland, since 1991. It was designed as a high-performance utility aircraft that incorporates a large aft cargo door in ad ...
single engine turboprop, work on the twin engine jet began in 2007 for greater range and speed, keeping the rugged airfield capability.
The aircraft was introduced on 21 May 2013 and rolled out on 1 August 2014, with the
maiden flight
The maiden flight, also known as first flight, of an aircraft is the first occasion on which it leaves the ground under its own power. The same term is also used for the first launch of rockets.
The maiden flight of a new aircraft type is alwa ...
on 11 May 2015. The PC-24 received
EASA
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) with responsibility for civil aviation safety. It carries out certification, regulation and standardisation and also performs investigation and monitori ...
and
FAA
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
type certification on 7 December 2017 and the first customer delivery was on 7 February 2018.
Powered by two
Williams FJ44
The Williams FJ44 is a family of small, two-spool, turbofan engines produced by Williams International for the light business jet market. Until the recent boom in the very light jet market, the FJ44 was one of the smallest turbofans available ...
turbofans, it competes with the
Embraer Phenom 300
The Embraer EMB-505 Phenom 300 is a single-pilot-certified light business jet developed by the Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer. It can carry up to 11 occupants.
Development
Embraer began designing the Phenom 300 after finding that pot ...
and the
Cessna Citation CJ4
The Cessna CitationJet/CJ/M2 (also known as the Model 525) are a series of light business jets built by Cessna, and are part of the Citation family.
Launched in October 1989, the first flight of the Model 525 was on April 29, 1991. Federal Avi ...
.
Development
![Pilatus PC-24 roll-out](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Pilatus_PC-24_roll-out.jpg)
During the 1990s, Pilatus Aircraft had brought to market the
Pilatus PC-12
The Pilatus PC-12 is a pressurized, single-engined, turboprop aircraft, manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Stans, Switzerland, since 1991. It was designed as a high-performance utility aircraft that incorporates a large aft cargo door in ad ...
, a single-engine
turboprop
A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller.
A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. Fuel ...
-powered business aircraft. As the PC-12 quickly proved to be a commercial success, Pilatus sought to follow up with a complementary aircraft and began gathering feedback from customers of the type. In response to this request, several customers reportedly expressed a desire for an aircraft that would possess both a greater range and top speed than the existing PC-12, while retaining the type's overall ruggedness and ability to make use of very short runways.
Based on this feedback, Pilatus elected to pursue development of such an aircraft. In 2007, Pilatus initiated work on the program.
Development of the aircraft was conducted using existing company funds.
The design program was first mentioned by Pilatus in its May 2011 annual report.
[
On 21 May 2013, the PC-24 was introduced to the public at the ]European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition
European Business Aviation Association or EBAA, is a non-profit association based in Belgium that has existed since 1977. Its 684 member companies span all aspects of the business aviation sector in Europe and elsewhere. The EBAA's aim is to prom ...
(EBACE) in Geneva. At the time, Pilatus chairman Oscar Schwenk claimed the PC-24 did not fit into any existing business jet categories, and stated that the aircraft was the only one that combined "...the versatility of a turboprop with the cabin size of a medium light jet, and the performance of a light jet".
On 1 August 2014, which is also Switzerland's national day, P01, the first of the three PC-24 prototypes, was rolled out. Each of these three prototypes serve different functions in the development program; P01 is intended for exploring the flight envelope of the type, P02 is mainly for trialling the avionics and autopilot integration, and will spend much of its testing life in the US, while P03 is to be representative of production aircraft and will incorporate improvements made based upon the development work performed with the other two aircraft.[
]
Flight testing
The first flight of the prototype had been originally anticipated to take place in late 2014, but this was delayed. On 11 May 2015, P01 conducted its first flight from Buochs Airport
The Buochs Airport, french: Aéroport de Buochs, it, Aeroporto di Buochs ( ICAO code LSZC Mil: LSMU) is a regional airport in the town of Buochs in the Canton of Nidwalden in Switzerland. It has a concrete runway with a length of 2000 meters and ...
, Switzerland, for a total of 55 minutes. The occasion marked the start of test flights for the aircraft's two-year certification campaign. At the time, type certification
A type certificate signifies the airworthiness of a particular category of aircraft, according to its manufacturing design (''type design''). It confirms that the aircraft of a new type intended for serial production, is in compliance with applica ...
and initial deliveries were anticipated for 2017.
On 16 November 2015, P02, the second prototype, performed its maiden flight, lasting for 82 minutes; by this date, P01 had accumulated a total of 150 flying hours and had performed over 100 flights.[Huber, Mark]
"Second Pilatus PC-24 Flies."
''AIN Online'', 17 November 2015. In May 2016, P01 took an brief intermission in the test program to appear on static display at EBACE; by this point, P01 and P02 had accumulated more than 500 flight hours between them. During EBACE 2016, it was commented that the program was on track and test flights had been free of surprises; during a transatlantic crossing
Transatlantic crossings are passages of passengers and cargo across the Atlantic Ocean between Europe or Africa and the Americas. The majority of passenger traffic is across the North Atlantic between Western Europe and North America. Centuries ...
to the US, P02 had achieved a cruise speed in excess of 800 km/h (432 kt.), which was better than expected.[
The PC-24 flight-test fleet was completed with the addition of the third prototype of P03 in March 2017; by May they had logged 950 flights and 1,525 hours.][ In August 2017, ]Williams International
Williams International is an American manufacturer of small gas turbine engines based in Pontiac, Michigan, United States. It produces jet engines for cruise missiles and small jet aircraft.
History
Dr. Sam B. Williams worked at Chrysler on th ...
received type and production certification from the EASA
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) with responsibility for civil aviation safety. It carries out certification, regulation and standardisation and also performs investigation and monitori ...
and FAA
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
for its FJ44-4A-QPM while the three test aircraft accumulated over 1,700h of flight tests, on schedule for certification and introduction in the fourth quarter.
By October 2017, more than 2,000 hours had been flown, with the P01 prototype flying 626 times and 900 hours. The P03 prototype will complete a functional and reliability program, including 150 hours over six weeks before certification
Certification is the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestation or confirmation of certain characteristics of a ...
is completed and initial deliveries commence.
The three prototypes flew 2205 hours including icing conditions
In aviation, icing conditions are atmospheric conditions that can lead to the formation of water ice on an aircraft. Ice accretion and accumulation can affect the external surfaces of an aircraft – in which case it is referred to as ''airframe ...
and very hot temperatures, outside its flight envelope
In aerodynamics, the flight envelope, service envelope, or performance envelope of an aircraft or spacecraft refers to the capabilities of a design in terms of airspeed and load factor or atmospheric density, often simplified to altitude. The t ...
, bird strike
A bird strike—sometimes called birdstrike, bird ingestion (for an engine), bird hit, or bird aircraft strike hazard (BASH)—is a collision between an airborne animal (usually a bird or bat) and a moving vehicle, usually an aircraft. The term ...
s, structural stress tests and noise
Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference arise ...
tests before it received EASA and FAA type certification on 7 December 2017. Its performance goals were met or exceeded, like its maximum speed raised from 425 to 440 knots (787 to 815 km/h).
In the fourth quarter of 2018,the aircraft was certified to land on dry sand and gravel. Australian RFDS was scheduled to start medevac
Medical evacuation, often shortened to medevac or medivac, is the timely and efficient movement and en route care provided by medical personnel to wounded being evacuated from a battlefield, to injured patients being evacuated from the scene of a ...
in 2019.
Transport Canada
Transport Canada (french: Transports Canada) is the department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of road, rail, marine and air transportation in Canada. It is part of the Transportati ...
certification was awarded on 27 June 2019.
In February 2020, the design was approved for rough field operation, certifying the aircraft to operate from grass, wet earth and snow-covered surfaces, following a multiyear certification campaign.[
As of February 2020, the aircraft can operate from grass, wet earth, dry sand, gravel and snow.
]
Production
In late 2014, an agreement between Pilatus and FlightSafety International
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Its main business and source of capital is insurance, from which it invests the float (the retained premiums ...
will see the latter conduct US-based PC-24 pilot and technician training in Dallas, Texas
Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...
. In May 2017, series production was under way for a fourth quarter first delivery to PlaneSense
PlaneSense is a fractional aircraft ownership program managed by PlaneSense, Inc. and based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, United States. As of the beginning of 2020, they manage a civilian fleet of 44 total program aircraft, made up of thirty-six ...
, following certification.
In December 2017, eight PC-24s were on the assembly line and 23 deliveries were planned for 2018.[ The first customer delivery was completed on 7 February 2018 to ]PlaneSense
PlaneSense is a fractional aircraft ownership program managed by PlaneSense, Inc. and based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, United States. As of the beginning of 2020, they manage a civilian fleet of 44 total program aircraft, made up of thirty-six ...
.
In 2018, 23 to 24 were planned for delivery, with 40 planned for 2019 and then 50 per year.
On 11 October 2018, its MTOW
The maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) or maximum gross takeoff weight (MGTOW) or maximum takeoff mass (MTOM) of an aircraft is the maximum weight at which the pilot is allowed to attempt to take off, due to structural or other limits. The analogous ...
was raised from , from the 31st serial aircraft produced, while its zero-fuel weight The zero-fuel weight (ZFW) of an aircraft is the total weight of the airplane and all its contents, minus the total weight of the usable fuel on board. Unusable fuel is included in ZFW.
For many types of airplane, the airworthiness limitations incl ...
(empty weight plus payload) grew by .
Orders and deliveries
At the May 2014 EBACE
European Business Aviation Association or EBAA, is a non-profit association based in Belgium that has existed since 1977. Its 684 member companies span all aspects of the business aviation sector in Europe and elsewhere. The EBAA's aim is to promo ...
, Pilatus sold the initial production run of 84 units 36 hours after orders opened. This first batch of orders is to be delivered until early 2020. Orders were to reopen after publishing the aircraft's final performance data and assessing operators' feedback. Throughout its 40-year lifecycle, Pilatus plan to produce 4,000 units.
A PC-24 was ordered to transport
Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, an ...
the Swiss Federal Council
The Federal Council (german: Bundesrat; french: Conseil fédéral; it, Consiglio federale; rm, Cussegl federal) is the executive body of the federal government of the Swiss Confederation and serves as the collective head of state and governme ...
.
When it was certified in December 2017, it was priced at US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
8.9M.
On 26 November 2018, the first of five was delivered to the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia
The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), commonly known as the Flying Doctor, is an air medical service in Australia. It is a non-profit organisation that provides emergency and primary health care services for those living in rural, remote an ...
, supplementing its 35 PC-12
The Pilatus PC-12 is a pressurized, single-engined, turboprop aircraft, manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Stans, Switzerland, since 1991. It was designed as a high-performance utility aircraft that incorporates a large aft cargo door in ad ...
s single turboprops.
Unpaved and short 856 m (2,810 ft) runways should be allowed next, and it should enter service in early 2019 as an air ambulance
Air medical services is a comprehensive term covering the use of air transportation, aeroplane or helicopter, to move patients to and from healthcare facilities and accident scenes. Personnel provide comprehensive prehospital and emergency and cri ...
with three beds and an electric stretcher
A stretcher, gurney, litter, or pram is an apparatus used for moving patients who require medical care. A basic type (cot or litter) must be carried by two or more people. A wheeled stretcher (known as a gurney, trolley, bed or cart) is often ...
loader. They feature individual oxygen, vacuum and power systems for patient monitoring and support installed under a supplemental type certificate by aircraft medical interiors specialist Aerolite AG Aerolite may refer to:
* Aero-Works Aerolite 103, an ultralight aircraft
* AeroLites, Inc., an American aircraft manufacturer
* NER 66 Aerolite, a steam locomotive
* Aerolite (adhesive) Aerolite is a urea-formaldehyde gap filling adhesive which is ...
, for $13 million complete each.
It will replace a midsize Hawker 800XP
The Hawker 800 is a mid-size twinjet corporate aircraft. It is a development of the British Aerospace BAe 125, and was assembled by Hawker Beechcraft.
Development
In April 1981, the British Aerospace board sanctioned the programme to improve th ...
operated in Western Australia since 2009, a gravel kit
A gravel kit is a modification on an aircraft to avoid foreign object debris (FOD) damage or ingestion while operating on unpaved surfaces. Modifications generally include methods of preventing the nose gear spraying FOD into the engine and onto ...
will be available by the end of the year, and Pilatus is working on operating on narrow runways, from .
By May 2019, Pilatus had sold 30 units and reopened the PC-24 orderbook at the EBACE
European Business Aviation Association or EBAA, is a non-profit association based in Belgium that has existed since 1977. Its 684 member companies span all aspects of the business aviation sector in Europe and elsewhere. The EBAA's aim is to promo ...
show, with about 80 delivery positions made available at a price of $10.7 million each, for late 2020 and 2021 deliveries. Of these new positions half were sold within days. The PC-24 had been granted European and US steep approach
Approach may refer to:
Aviation
*Visual approach
*Instrument approach
*Final approach
Music
* ''Approach'' (album), by Von Hertzen Brothers
* ''The Approach'', an album by I:Scintilla
Other uses
*Approach Beach, a gazetted beach in Ting Kau, Ho ...
certification, including for London City airport
London City Airport is a regional airport in London, England. It is located in the Royal Docks in the Borough of Newham, approximately east of the City of London and east of Canary Wharf. These are the twin centres of London's financial ...
's 5.5° approach and short runway
According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...
, plus dirt and gravel runway operations. Rough-field certification was approved for grass, wet earth and snow operations in late January 2020.
The 50th was delivered by October 2019, and the 100th by January 2021.
In 2022, its equipped price was $M.
Design
The PC-24 is the company's first jet-powered aircraft. Several competing business aircraft were identified early on, including Embraer
Embraer S.A. () is a Brazilian multinational aerospace manufacturer that produces commercial, military, executive and agricultural aircraft, and provides aeronautical services. It was founded in 1969 in São José dos Campos, São Paulo, where i ...
's Phenom 300
The Embraer EMB-505 Phenom 300 is a single-pilot-certified light business jet developed by the Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer. It can carry up to 11 occupants.
Development
Embraer began designing the Phenom 300 after finding that pot ...
and Cessna
Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufacturing c ...
's Citation CJ4.
It is a low-wing cantilever cabin monoplane powered by two Williams FJ44
The Williams FJ44 is a family of small, two-spool, turbofan engines produced by Williams International for the light business jet market. Until the recent boom in the very light jet market, the FJ44 was one of the smallest turbofans available ...
-4A turbofan
The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft engine, aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a portmanteau of "turbine" and "fan": the ''turbo'' portion refers to a gas turbine engine which ac ...
s, each mounted in a nacelle on the side of the rear fuselage. It has a T-tail
A T-tail is an empennage configuration in which the tailplane is mounted to the top of the fin. The arrangement looks like the capital letter T, hence the name. The T-tail differs from the standard configuration in which the tailplane is ...
and a retractable tricycle landing gear
Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has a single nose wheel in the front, and two or more main wheels slightly aft of the center of gravity. Tricycle g ...
.
The aircraft is designed to operate from short and rough airstrips and incorporates an advanced wing design, with a large double-slotted flap system to achieve the necessary performance, having a stall speed of only 81 knots at the maximum landing weight.
The long-stroke trailing link
A (semi) trailing-arm suspension, sometimes referred to as (semi) trailing-link is a vehicle axle or wheel suspension design in which one or more horizontal arms (or "links"), perpendicular to and forward of the axle, are connecting the axle or w ...
landing gear smooths out uneven surfaces, the dual-wheel main wheels have of pressure to prevent sinking in soft surfaces, and the wing flaps have a replaceable, abradable surface and shields the high mounted engines from loose debris.
The cabin has room for eight passengers and two pilots. The cabin has three exits, a passenger door on the left-hand side near the front, overwing emergency exits on each side of the aircraft, and a cargo door on the left-hand side at the rear. Pilatus claims the PC-24 is the first business jet to be fitted with this standard pallet
A pallet (also called a skid) is a flat transport structure, which supports goods in a stable fashion while being lifted by a forklift, a pallet jack, a front loader, a jacking device, or an erect crane. A pallet is the structural foundat ...
-sized cargo door.
The interior color schemes of the PC-24 have been designed by BMW Designworks; interiors for the Americas
The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World.
Along with th ...
are to be completed at a facility in Broomfield, Colorado
Broomfield is a consolidated city and county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. Broomfield has a consolidated government which operates under Article XX, Sections 10-13 of the Constitution of the State of Colorado. The Broomfield populatio ...
, which will be expanded by 50% to cope with the extra demand.[
Pilatus and ]Honeywell
Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building technologies, performance ma ...
cooperatively designed the ''Advanced Cockpit Environment'' for the type. This is intended to reduce pilot workload and allows the PC-24 to be single-pilot certified. The avionics system is based on Honeywell Primus
Honeywell Primus is a range of Electronic Flight Instrument System (EFIS) glass cockpits manufactured by Honeywell Aerospace.
Each system is composed of multiple display units used as primary flight display and multi-function display.
Primus 10 ...
Epic 2.
At and , total fuel flow is per hour at M0.65 long range cruise or , rising to /h at its M0.74 high-speed cruise.
In July 2021, the design was updated with a number of refinements for new-build aircraft that can also be retro-fitted to earlier production aircraft. These updates included newly designed, lighter and more comfortable, quick release cabin seats; an optional galley
A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by oars. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, and low freeboard (clearance between sea and gunwale). Virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be used ...
to replace the forward coat closet; touchscreen-controlled avionics; tactile feedback in pitch and roll, plus limit protection; pilot-defined visual approaches and automated audible callouts. Also approved were True Blue Power lithium ion battery
A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery which uses the reversible reduction of lithium ions to store energy. It is the predominant battery type used in portable consumer electronics and electric vehicles. It also se ...
sets which are lighter and less expensive to maintain.
Operators
The aircraft is popular with air charter companies and is also operated by private companies.
By January 2021, the fleet of 100 jets has logged 33,500 flight hours, including 2,375 hours by the fleet leader.[
]
Military
* Qatar Emiri Air Force
The Qatar Emiri Air Force ( ar, القوات الجوية الأميرية القطرية , Al-Quwwat Al-Jawiyah Al-Amiriyah Al-Qatariyah) (QEAF) is the air arm of the Qatar Armed Forces, armed forces of the state of Qatar. It was established in ...
: 2 aircraft
* Swiss Air Force
The Swiss Air Force (german: Schweizer Luftwaffe; french: Forces aériennes suisses; it, Forze aeree svizzere; rm, Aviatica militara svizra) is the air component of the Swiss Armed Forces, established on 31 July 1914 as a part of the army and ...
: 1 aircraft
Specifications
See also
References
External links
*
{{Pilatus aircraft
Pilatus aircraft
2010s Swiss business aircraft
Twinjets
Low-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 2015
T-tail aircraft