Pilatus PC-12
Pilatus pc 12 ng
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wlflyby1947
I would like for someone to tell me about the flight of the
pc 12 ng and some of its characteristics......
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replied to:  wlflyby1947
sleddriver
Replied to:  I would like for someone to tell me about the flight...
The PC12NG is very easy (maybe a little boring) to fly and land. It handles like a big heavy Cessna 172 in my opinion. It is very stable. It has a slow roll rate (better than the legacy but still much slower roll rate than a King Air 90 or 200). I fly (3) different PC12NG's, and they all match or exceed performance numbers in the book. This is the first airplane I have flown that does this. I suppose it may have to do with the fact that these airplanes are only 2 years old. In the past the newest airplane I had flown was at least 20 years old. It cruises uncomfortably close to the barber pole at FL230 especially (within 5-10 kts). Compared to the King Airs I have flown, it has a lower wing loading which brings takeoff and landing speeds down (good) but it also makes for a rougher ride through turbulance (bad). It can't handle quite as much crosswind as a similar sized twin, nothing wrong in the design just a simple fact of not having asymmetric thrust to offset the crosswind. One of the biggest limitations for me has been turning around on a slippery (icy) runway. It cannot turn nearly as sharp as a twin again because of the lack of asymmetric thrust. The worst case scenario, as long as you're careful, will be having to shutdown, get out and push back the airplane (I hope you have help) start up and resume taxiing. The avionics are fantastic. I'm still waiting for synthetic vision, I don't know when/if that will ever come. Our company uses 2,500 ft. minimum runway length. On hot days when you're heavily loaded this limitation is based on takeoff distance required. At FL210 and above it's typical to see 275 KTAS. At 10,000 ft bet on about 245 KTAS. I plan about 450 lbs of fuel per hour average (67 g.p.h.).
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