Glacier Girl still cant make it to England

Some 65 years ago P-38 Lightning 'Glacier Girl' was on her way to England to participate in the dark days of World War II.

On July 15th 1942 Serial Number 4176390 put down on the frozen wasteland of Eastern Greenland. There she lay until 1992 when her remains were finally extracted from 260 feet below the frozen tundra.

The owner of 'Glacier Girl' Rodney R. "Rod" Lewis vowed to complete the original 5000 mile mission and in doing so finally put closure to this rather unusual chapter of World War II. In fact Several P-38's and B-17's put down on the ice due to severe weather and low fuel.

During the proposed week long expedition, Lewis flew the lead plane in the formation- a Pilatus PC-12. However once again faith had other ideas for the old girl and she once again had to abandon her journey. This time the culprit was simple engine coolant shortly after leaving Goose Bay, Labrador for Greenland. Fortunately she did made it back to Goose Bay intact. Rumor has it they will attempt the trip again next Summer.

M Kenny

Electro-optical infrared systems (PC-12 Spectre)

Electro-optical infrared systems are playing a vital role in surveillance and counter-insurgence. Specialist FLIR is demonstrating its latest Star Safire system at Paris. Phil Nasskau sees it in operation.
You might be standing at the end of the runway watching the Pilatus PC-12 coming in to land. What you don’t know is that it’s watching you too.

FLIR Government Systems is demonstrating its Star Safire HD electro-optical infrared (EO/IR) system, an all-digital high-definition vision system on its PC-12 demonstator. Customers will have the chance to see the system live in action – but if you’re not American you can’t see the real performance of the system.

It broadcasts in raw HD and gives clear images. “We’re limited as to how much of the system’s performance we can show because of export licensing,” says product manager Robert Kubis. “But even at 18km you can see the Eiffel Tower in clear HD and automatically track it.”

On FLIR’s PC-12 it uses Pilatus’ Spectre mount and actually retracts into the fuselage for stowage. It can be equipped to feature thermal IR imaging, night vision, multiple fields-of-view, image intensifier, laser rangefinder, laser pointer, laser illuminator, colour high-definition camera and low-light high-definition camera.

Flight Global Jun 19, 07

Business Aircraft Find Growing Usage

" NASA uses Gulfstream IIs as flying Shuttle landing simulators, while Germany employs a G550 to study global warming. Pakistan's Sindh provincial government's Learjet 45XR and Macedonia's Lear 60 are VIP transports. The U.S. Defense Dept. contracted with Cessna to build and modify a quintet of OT-47Bs Citation Ultras -- equipped with Westinghouse An/APG-66 target acquisition radars and other sensors and imaging equipment -- for covert tracking missions. Last March Hawker Beechcraft received an order for six King Air 350s to be operated by the Iraq air force for intelligence gathering and reconnaissance. The Carabinieri, Italy's state police, transport personnel on board a P-180 Avanti, as do their transatlantic counterparts, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police; the Mounties' diverse 43-aircraft fleet also includes 13 Pilatus PC-12s. "

While difficult to determine the number of business, utility and regional aircraft engaged in such activities, the sum totals are in the hundreds.

By William Garvey/Aviationweek.com Jun 14, 2007

ASD survey of the aerospace and defence industry

At the presentation, ASD president Charles Edelstenne - chief executive of Dassault Aviation - highlighted the strength of the European aeronautics sector. Fuel efficient turboprops - with Franco-Italian venture ATR flying the flag for Europe - have done well thanks to the high oil price. Business and general aviation - represented by Dassault, as well as smaller manufacturers such as Diamond, EADS Socata, Grob, Piaggio and Pilatus - is "riding high on a wave of enthusiasm that shows no sign of diminishing in 2007", he says.

Flight Global 06th Jun 07

Dexter expansion hits capacity snag (Russian Air Taxi)

Squeezed by the lack of domestically produced aircraft, Russian air-taxi operator Dexter has turned to Swiss manufacturer Pilatus to supply 25 PC-12 single-engined turboprops by 2011.
The Moscow-based company expects to receive three aircraft this year and five in 2008.

"This substantiates our estimate of market potential of up to 1 million passengers a year," he adds. "To carry out regular flights on a large scale, we need to have at least 100 aircraft."

"Fulfilling them is taking priority over our order," says Andrachnikov, who does not rule out that Dexter could cancel its contract with Sokol and rely wholly on Pilatus as a supplier of much-needed aircraft. To operate the first batch of PC-12s, the carrier has already provided training for 10 pilots and seven technicians.

Flight Global, By Tom Zaitsev 06th Jun 07

Next Generation PC-12 Picks Up The Pace

'However, there are plenty of great aircraft built in Europe and one of the leaders comes from Swiss manufacturer Pilatus, which has just delivered its 700th PC-12 single-engine turboprop aircraft to David Fountain, a private investor from Halifax, Nova Scotia. The PC-12 is the world's top-selling turbine business aircraft, and its next incarnation recently flew to the U.S. for flight tests. The airplane stopped en route at Iqaluit, Canada, for a series of cold weather trials, before arriving at the company's North American headquarters in Broomfield, Colo. The aircraft performed well and completed its cold weather testing a day early. The next generation PC-12 should be certified by the end of the year and will feature fully integrated Honeywell Primus Apex avionics, a new BMW Designworks cockpit, and a P&WC PT6A engine.'

By Liz Moscrop for avweb.com May 23rd, 2007

Apex for PC-12 on track

Honeywell announced this morning that development of its Primus Apex integrated avionics system for Pilatus PC-12s is on track for certification in 2007.

The Honeywell flight-test programme has accrued more than 72h of flight test on 35 test flights and has already resulted in successful flight control and systems development. The programme is progressing towards Part 23 certifications.

“Primus Apex offers Pilatus the most advanced autoflight, navigation and situation awareness capabilities and is ideal for PC-12 operators looking for a new cockpit alternative,” Todd said. “The digital technology, ultra-high resolution displays, and fully automated controls assure the pilot easier flight deck operation and improved aircraft safety.”

Flight Global 23rd May 07