Pilatus unveils PC–12 Pro

Pilatus unveiled its latest PC–12 variant on March 14 with a video streamed on YouTube. The updated PC–12 will compete with another Garmin-equipped single-engine turboprop, the Beechcraft Denali, also expected to arrive in 2025.

Pilatus opened the big reveal of its $6.8 million aircraft with a spoof of a well-known scene from the 1986 film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off in which Ferris and his buddy, Cameron, consider taking a joyride in a Ferrari sports car belonging to Cameron’s father. Pilatus’ version swaps the Ferrari for a PC–12 Pro. With a slight modification of the dialog, Ferris says Cameron’s father is at fault because “he didn’t lock the hangar.”

The aircraft’s newest element is its revamped cockpit featuring the Garmin G3000 Prime flight deck, which Pilatus calls the Advanced Cockpit Environment. The video features discussions with Pilatus customers, operators and personnel including test pilot Matthew Hartkop, who gives a cockpit tour while demonstrating the new Garmin equipment. He calls the flight deck “a true professional’s cockpit” that “represents the progressive evolution of an already great product.”

Pilots are likely to focus on the panel’s three 14-inch touchscreen displays with two 7-inch secondary screens. While their size and number are impressive, there is a particular function that stands out. Anyone who has struggled to manipulate previous touchscreens while flying in turbulence will appreciate a hand-stabilization feature that allows pilots to rest their hand on the screen while selecting options or entering information.

Among the new flight deck’s safety features are Autoland, which essentially has become de rigueur for aircraft in this category, and improved stall warning and protection, electronic stability and protection and weather radar systems. Pilots familiar with the PC—12 are likely to notice the upgrade to control yokes from the company’s PC–24 jet.

George Antoniadis, president and CEO of PlaneSense, a fleet operator specializing in fractional ownership since 1995, is among the guests in the video. His company operates 92 PC–12s and 17 PC–24s. He seemed delighted by the yoke swap. “I was so busy looking at the avionics I neglected to note that it’s the PC–24 yoke,” he said. “Once you have tried it in the PC–24 it is hard to go back.”

Pilatus said it will begin delivering the new model during the fourth quarter of 2025.