PC-12 Pics from POPA 2010

Here are a few fleet pictures from the 2010 Pilatus Owners & Pilots Association Convention in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Its always great to see so many PC-12s in one place! Flown any of these? Click to enlarge.

Skytech Receives 2009 FAA Award of Excellence

Skytech, a Pilatus Sales and Service Center, has received the 2009 FAA Award of Excellence "Diamond Award" ... the highest level award in the FAA's Aviation Maintenance Technician Awards program. The awards are issued yearly based on the training received in a calendar year. Skytech's Rock Hill service facility has received the award continuously since 2006 and was the only maintenance provider in South Carolina to receive the award in 2009.

"We are honored that the dedication and hard work of our technicians is recognized by the FAA each year," said John K. Foster, President of Skytech Inc. "At Skytech, we rely on building strong and lasting customer relationships, a strong commitment to customer service and a firm belief that providing the very best in sales support and service means continued business success."

PC-12 Spectre Captures Disaster Footage

FLIR released electro-optic/infrared (EO/IR) footage from recent environmental disasters including the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull, and the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Recording the footage was the Star SAFIRE(R) HD from the company's Pilatus PC-12. The Star SAFIRE HD is the world's first and only all-digital, all-high definition (HD) EO/IR surveillance system. The system serves as the eyes for aircraft in reconnaissance, search-and-rescue, law enforcement and environmental protection missions for governments, militaries and defense communities across the globe. It was designed to record high-quality footage day or night, in some of the harshest environments around the world. The PC-12 Spectre, a surveillance variant of the popular workhorse turboprop, houses this camera on a retractable platform in the tail cone, protecting it when not in use and leaving the cabin intact for other uses.

Pilatus Performs Well Despite Tough Market

In spite of the general financial and economic crisis, 2009 was another year of new records for Pilatus Aircraft Ltd: the highest ever operating income (CHF 78 million), a record number of PC-12 NG deliveries (100) and the biggest single order in its entire history with the PC-21 assignment from the United Arab Emirates.

The United Arab Emirates decided to go with Pilatus again in mid-November of last year. As an existing customer with a fleet of 31 Pilatus PC-7s, the UAE have now opted for the PC-21 training system. The total order for 25 aircraft is worth over CHF 500 million.

A further contract was also concluded with the Finnish Air Force for six PC-12 NGs to be deployed as liaison aircraft. This is the first ever order from a European air force for an entire fleet of this type of aircraft.

The global financial and economic crisis impacted on sales of business aircraft, resulting in cancellations and a slowdown in the order flow. Good planning and a full order book ensured Pilatus delivered a record number of PC-12 NGs (100) notwithstanding, including the 900th PC-12 to an existing customer in the USA.

In 2009, readers of “Professional Pilot Magazine” and “Aviation International News” voted Pilatus Customer Service the best in its category for the eighth and sixth times consecutively.

The Pilatus Maintenance Business Unit remained very busy throughout the year under review, essentially in connection with the conversion of the PC-7 fleet operated by the Swiss Air Force. These aircraft were fitted with a new cockpit. Buoyant demand for component and maintenance work also contributed to good capacity utilization. Maintenance is also responsible for production of the PC-6: five such aircraft were delivered in 2009. The legendary Pilatus Porter celebrated its 50th birthday during the year under review – and was brought right up to date with a state-of-the-art Garmin glass cockpit.

Around the world in 60 days with a PC-12

Here’s a video slide show by photographer Tom Sólo about his round-the-world trip aboard a Pilatus PC-12. Some European entrepreneurs decided to take a Pilatus PC-12 around the world and have some fun on the way. Check out the photographs of this 60 day unique round-the-world trip. Spain, Egypt, Dubai, Maldives, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Caledonia, Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Easter Island, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Cape Verde, Morocco, Spain.

Seaport Begins Operations in Salina

SeaPort began operations in Salina, Kansas, offering three nonstop flights to Kansas City Sunday through Friday. Three flights is a “starting place,” McKinney said. A fourth flight to Kansas City is a goal, along with flights someday to Denver in the company’s Pilatus PC-12. SeaPort replaces the 19-seat planes flown by Great Lakes Airlines as the scheduled air carrier for Salina, using a federal Essential Air Service subsidy. The smaller planes are right-sized for Salina, he said, going from two to three flights a day to “give people more choice, more opportunity to get where they need to go.”

Pilatus Partners with PZL Swidnik

Pilatus Aircraft Ltd is pleased to announce its partnership with PZL Swidnik S.A. for the assembly of PC-12 fuselage and wing cells. Following in-depth and extremely detailed assessments of various suppliers, Pilatus is confident that PZL Swidnik S.A. will prove to be a partner capable of meeting the highest standards of quality, and one with the requisite experience and certifications in the aviation industry.

Located in the Lublin region to the south-east of Warsaw, PZL Swidnik S.A. of Swidnik was recently acquired by AgustaWestland, the air transport Group. The contract between Pilatus and PZL Swidnik S.A. has been signed for a ten year period, and provides for delivery of the first complete PC-12 structures during the second half of 2011. Pilatus Aircraft Ltd will continue to produce detail parts in Stans, and these will be made available to PZL Swidnik S.A. for assembly work.

The PC-12 positions Pilatus Aircraft Ltd as the market leader in the single engine turboprop aircraft segment. With a view to safeguarding and further expanding PC-12 production rates in the future, Pilatus Aircraft Ltd has been seeking another partner in addition to the existing relationship with OGMA – Indústria Aeronáutica de Portugal. The long and excellent partnership of many years with OGMA will continue on its present basis.

Finnish Air Force Gets PC-12s Ahead of Schedule

The deliveries of the Pilatus PC-12 NGs that the Finnish Air Force has purchased from Switzerland will take place ahead of schedule. The first aircraft destined for Finland are currently undergoing flight testing, and the first examples of the service’s new liaison aircraft will be ferried to Finland in July. The initial schedule called for deliveries during the last quarter of the year.

A contract for the purchase of six aircraft was signed between the Finnish Air Force and Pilatus Aircraft in the spring of 2009. The new aircraft will replace six twin-engined Piper Chieftains, which have soldiered on for a quarter of a century and will be retired during 2010, nine Valmet Redigos that have been flown in liaison duties, and seven Piper Arrows, which were already struck off charge in 2004. The service will most likely retain its Redigos until 2013. The new aircraft is a marked improvement over its predecessors in terms of speed and range and can reach Brussels from Helsinki non-stop.

SeaPort Flies From Salina

SeaPort Airlines is the new provider of essential air service for the Salina, Kansas airport. SeaPort will begin service from Salina to Kansas City with daily roundtrip flights Sunday through Friday, it said. The service will start as early as April 19, it said. SeaPort will use 9-seat Swiss-built Pilatus PC-12 aircraft on the route. Great Lakes Airlines has been serving the market for the last several years. It will discontinue service on April 19.

How’s PlaneSense Doing?

They are holding up quite well. Boasting the largest fleet of Pilatus PC-12s in the world, Alpha Flying has grown from two planes to 31 since the company was founded in 1996. Today the PlaneSense program has between 200 and 300 clients, who purchase one-eighth shares of the aircraft that provides them with 90 hours of flight. PlaneSense CEO George Antoniadis says Alpha Flying’s unique positioning in the market has allowed them to weather the economic storm better than most. PlaneSense experienced less than half the program exits other fractional ownership programs have suffered. Of those, all of those shares were successfully remarketed to new entrants ... and PlaneSense sold additional shares in 2009 and 2010. "So we didn't experience a reduction in client base. In fact, we increased," said Antoniadis. Read the whole thing.

Sean Sanders Flies Haiti Relief

9:30 a.m. on a rainy, cold, Tuesday morning in Atlanta, Ga. Five relief workers, including a lawyer and a Creole-speaking doctor, are ready to take off from DeKalb-Peachtree Airport in a private airplane donated for the trip. On board with them, piled to the airplane’s ceiling, are boxes and bags stuffed with prescription drugs and medical equipment they will take to a clinic outside Port-au-Prince, Haiti. For some on board, this is a return trip since the earthquake struck Jan. 12. For Pilatus Center South’s Sean Sanders, it’s the tenth round-trip to Haiti in two weeks. AOPA covered Sean’s adventures here.

SeaPort May Service Kansas City

SeaPort Airlines, which flies three round trips between Harrison and Memphis six days a week, has been selected by Salina, Kan., leaders to also provide Essential Air Service to Kansas City, Mo., International Airport, SeaPort President Rob McKinney said. If the U.S. Department of Transportation affirms Salina's choice of SeaPort, it may also lead to SeaPort's adding Kansas City as a flight destination from Harrison. McKinney said he would then put forth a request to the DOT for a service change, adding a Harrison to Kansas City flight.

Haiti Relief: PC-12s Go Where No One Else Can

On the day the earthquake struck Haiti, Laura Mason received more than a dozen calls from international relief organizations for help. As the executive director of the Pilatus Owners and Pilots Association (POPA), Mason was in a unique position to support the relief efforts. She immediately began coordinating humanitarian flights to Haiti by owners and operators of Pilatus PC-12 turboprop aircraft from across the country.

"We've had at least 30 POPA members making humanitarian flights to Haiti, many flying repeat missions," said Mason. "One of our members has been flying to and from Haiti for the last two weeks."

The devastated infrastructure of Haiti, and distance from the U.S., put Pilatus operators in high demand among relief organizations.

"The PC-12 is the ideal aircraft for these missions," said POPA President Bob MacLean. "With the main airport in Port-au-Prince locked down, the relief organizations needed to be able to get into the smaller airfields - with no lights, no tower - surrounding the city. They needed to be able to land on dirt airstrips. The PC-12 can do all that. It also has a large cargo capacity, the flexibility to carry people or supplies and it has the range to fly 700 miles to Haiti, hold before landing and return."

Read the whole thing here.

PC-12 NG Deliveries Reach a New High

Pilatus is delighted to announce a record-breaking year for PC-12 deliveries. The company delivered 100 PC-12 NGs in 2009 worldwide, surpassing delivery totals for any production year since the PC-12 program began. “Achieving 100 deliveries in a single year is a significant milestone for Pilatus and the PC-12 NG production program and reason to celebrate,” said Ignaz Gretener, Vice President General Aviation at Pilatus Aircraft, Ltd. “This would be true in any year, but the fact we did it last year is simply outstanding.”

The PC-12 has consistently been one of the top selling models of turbine-powered aircraft, and Pilatus has conservatively increased production over the years, delivering 90, 92, and 97 of the type in 2006, 2007, and 2008, respectively. The company’s steady approach has allowed it to carefully grow yet stay appropriately lean.

BMW Sauber F1 Team takes off with Pilatus

A key factor in ensuring that Formula One teams operate efficiently is flexible travel planning and the option of landing at small airports close to race tracks. With this in mind, the BMW Sauber F1 Team has entered a partnership with Pilatus Aircraft Ltd. The Swiss plane manufacturer will make its nine-seater PC-12 NG – in team livery – available for European flights.

Team Principal and owner Peter Sauber is confident that “This partnership will gain us valuable time at many races and test drives. We value Pilatus’ reputation very highly and envisage plenty of synergies in joint incentive events as well as technology communications.”

Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of Pilatus Aircraft Ltd, Oscar J. Schwenk, commented: “Pilatus Aircraft Ltd is delighted to be able to partner the BMW Sauber Team during the 2010 season. In motor racing as in aviation, the highest quality, optimum precision and perfect teamwork are vital success factors. As Switzerland’s sole aircraft manufacturer, we wish Switzerland’s only Formula One team a high-flying season full of precision landings.”

A Pilatus PC-12 NG for Philanthropy

Pilatus is pleased to announce that noted philanthropist and leading general aviation advocate Thomas Haas has recently taken delivery of a factory new PC-12 NG.

Widely recognized in aviation circles, Mr. Haas is a current Board Member of the Air Safety Foundation for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. This well known non-profit foundation works to improve aviation safety, preserve community airports, and to encourage people from all walks of life to get involved in aviation and learn to fly.

Mr. Haas plans to use his new PC-12 NG for a range of charitable foundation work as well as personal and business travel. In addition to his work at the Air Safety Foundation, Mr. Haas also serves as Chair of The Corporation of the William Penn Foundation, an organization dedicated to improving the quality of life in the Greater Philadelphia area.

Speaking from his New Hampshire base, Mr. Haas was clearly impressed with the scope and variety of mission capabilities that his new PC-12 NG offers, “During our evaluation, my team and I examined critical factors including performance, safety record, direct operating costs and environmental impact. The PC-12 NG quickly moved to the front of our short list as no other aircraft could accept the key conditions we placed upon this aircraft acquisition. We look forward to a long relationship with Pilatus Aircraft and the team at Pro Star Pilatus Center”.

Thomas Bosshard, President and CEO of Pilatus Business Aircraft, added “We feel very fortunate to have Mr. Haas as our customer, and are especially proud to know his
PC-12 NG will be supporting his generous charitable work and general aviation advocacy in the years to come.”

PC-12 NG to Fly Wolves Across USA

Philanthropist Thomas Haas wasted no time putting his new PC-12 NG to work, using it to help out the National Zoo in Washington to fly three endangered Mexican wolves from Manassas Regional Airport in Virginia to a protected wildlife area outside of Albuquerque, N.M.. Haas and crew will return with another Mexican wolf, an injured female that lost her pups in California wildfires and her mate to cancer. Haas is donating his plane, the fuel and his time on his first mission for LightHawk, a nonprofit organization of American and Canadian pilots who champion environmental causes. Haas joined the board of directors this year. "It's just a real pleasure to help repopulate some of our endangered species," said Haas.