Pilatus med ny business jet

Monday, August 4, 2014

Pilatus Debuts First PC-24

Woodrow Bellamy III 

[Aviation Today 8-3-2014] Pilatus Aircraft has rolled its first PC-24 prototype out of the factory. The Switzerland-based airframe manufacturer said this will be the first of three prototypes that enter a flight test program that is scheduled to begin in Spring 2015.

 

Swiss National Day, when Pilatus Aircraft Ltd officially unveiled its first ever PC-24 prototype. Some 25,000 spectators watched as the show took place at Buochs airfield in central Switzerland. Photo, courtesy of Pilatus.

 

The PC-24 is a clean-sheet twin turbofan aircraft featuring the Advanced Cockpit Environment (ACE), an avionics suite developed by Pilatus and Honeywell. ACE is an Integrated Modular Avionics (IMA) cockpit with synthetic vision, auto throttle, graphical flight planning and Traffic Collision Avoidance (TCAS II). Canadian avionics manufacturer Latitude Technologies is also providing its SkyNode S200 as the standard satellite communications system on the PC-24.

 

Forecasts from major competitors Bombardier and Embraer show that there are likely to be more than 7,500 light jets in service by the time the PC-24 enters into service in 2017, so it will enter a highly competitive market. However, Pilatus has already seen heavy demand for the aircraft ahead of rolling out the first prototype. 

 

During the 2014 European Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition (EBACE), Pilatus actually sold of 84 PC-24s, which covers the total number of aircraft that the manufacturer was planning to build within the first three years of production. All delivery positions planned between the start of deliveries in 2017 and the end of 2019 have been sold. The Swiss manufacturer calls the PC-24 the "Super Versatile" jet, and is expecting the PC-24 will see demand from air cargo, medical and government special missions operators in addition to its traditional customer base of wealthy individual owners/operators. 

 

Some of the jets that the PC-24 will compete with include Embraer's Legacy 450, which is scheduled to enter service in 2015, as well as the Bombardier Learjet 75 and the Eclipse 550 — both of which recently began deliveries. Cessna will also provide some competition to the PC-24, with its CJ3+, which completed its maiden flight this year. Honda's first ever light business jet is also on track to enter service prior to the PC-24.

 

Oscar Schwenk, chairman of the board of directors of Pilatus believes the roll out of the new prototype "marks a really important milestone" in the company's "75-year history."

 

"We have seen our activities grow and expand here in Stans, and this is where we want to be in the future in Stans, producing our aircraft for sale to customers around the world," said Schwenk, referring to the company's manufacturing facility in central Switzerland.