“The land of the free and the home of the brave.” This iconic line captures the American spirit. For 250 years, this spirit has been defined by those willing to venture farther, build bigger, and pursue opportunities that involve risk.
Perhaps that’s why the Pilatus PC-12 has found its true home here. When the aircraft was introduced to the US market in 1994/95, people were skeptical yet in awe. How can a single-engine aircraft perform so well?!
I remember these early days well. It was my job, as well as a few other courageous folks, to convince the type-A millionaire business owner that spending his hard-earned entrepreneurial dollars on a Swiss-made aircraft was a good idea. Mission accomplished!
While the PC-12 was designed and built in Switzerland, nearly 80 percent of the world’s fleet calls the United States home. And that’s not a coincidence. It says something about the airplane and the people who fly it.
Americans have always embraced tools that create opportunity and solve problems. From railroads, to the first automobile and from the interstate highway system to general aviation, mobility has fueled innovation, entrepreneurship, and growth. The PC-12 naturally fits into that tradition.
Over the years, it’s earned nicknames like the “Turbine Suburban™,” and for good reason. Or as some of us used to say, “it’s the Swiss-Army Rolex” of aircraft. It can carry your family (or two) to a weekend getaway, a business owner and employees to multiple cities in a day, a medical team to a remote community, and supplies to places the airlines simply cannot reach. It is as comfortable on a paved runway as it is on a rural airstrip. That kind of versatility mirrors the diverse needs of American aviation.
The typical PC-12 owner isn’t buying an airplane simply to own an airplane. They’re buying time. They’re buying access. They’re buying flexibility.
Pilatus owners are deeply committed to the principle that they have the freedom to create opportunities on their own schedule, instead of someone else’s. That they shall garner the fruits of their labor and risk. That’s distinctly an American mindset.
As we celebrate 250 years of independence, it’s worth remembering that freedom is more than just a historical milestone. It’s something that continues to be lived every day by great people who build businesses, support communities, connect families, and explore new frontiers.
Aviation has always been one of the greatest expressions of that freedom and Pilatus owners are fortunate enough to carry this torch.
The Wright brothers proved powered flight was possible. Generations of American aviators transformed the nation by shrinking distances and connecting people. Today, aircraft like the PC-12 continue the legacy—not because it’s American-made, but because it embodies the values Americans have always admired: capability, reliability, practicality, and the confidence to go wherever opportunity leads.
The PC-12 may have been born in Switzerland.
But it found its home in America.
And that feels exactly right.
Fly safe,
Bub