Why the Pilatus PC-12 is one of the best Turboprop Planes
The right airplane always depends on the mission. But when you start looking for an aircraft that can do a little bit of everything, and do it exceptionally well, the Pilatus PC-12 is difficult to beat.
There’s a reason the PC-12 has earned such a loyal following among owner-pilots, families, corporations, charter operators, and special-mission operators around the world.
Is it the fastest turboprop in the sky? Negative. But it doesn’t need to be because it’s versatile. The PC-12 has built its reputation by being one of the most capable and versatile aircraft ever produced.
The Pilatus PC-12 Cabin Changes the Mission
When you spend enough time around Pilatus owners like us, you’ll quickly learn that the conversation rarely starts with speed.
It starts with the cabin!
The PC-12 offers something many smaller turboprops simply cannot: enough room to comfortably accommodate passengers, baggage, and the realities of actually traveling by private aircraft.
The cabin can be configured for business travel, family trips, executive transportation, cargo, or a combination of them all. Passengers have room to move around, and the aircraft’s flat-floor design makes loading and using the cabin considerably easier.
Because once the family, golf clubs, hunting gear, luggage, pets, and everything else that comes along for the trip are accounted for, cabin space starts to matter just as much as cruise speed.
Escargot Cargo
We can’t talk about the PC-12 cabin without talking about the cargo door.
We’ve seen just about everything find its way into the back of a Pilatus: Bikes, golf clubs, dining room furniture, mammoth tusks…
The cargo door, combined with the aircraft’s large cabin, gives owners flexibility that is difficult to replicate in many other turboprops.
Go Where the mission takes you
The PC-12 wasn’t designed to spend its entire life traveling between major airports. Where’s the fun in that?
One of the defining characteristics of the Pilatus PC-12 is its ability to operate from shorter and more challenging runways. This opens access to airports that may not be practical for many larger business aircraft.
The fastest airplane isn’t always the airplane that gets you to your final destination the quickest.
If another aircraft saves you a few minutes in the air but leaves you an hour’s drive from your actual destination, did you really save time?
The PC-12’s ability to get closer to where its owners actually want to go is a huge part of its appeal. For someone traveling to remote properties, manufacturing facilities, vacation homes, hunting locations, or communities away from major airports, that flexibility can completely change the mission.
Owner Pilot, Alright?
Here’s another reason the PC-12 consistently finds its way onto lists of the best turboprop planes: you have options up front, too.
The PC-12 is certified for single-pilot operation, making it attractive to experienced owner-pilots who want serious aircraft capability without necessarily requiring a two-pilot crew.
And this isn’t exactly a small airplane. You’re getting a substantial cabin, meaningful range, impressive carrying capability, and turbine performance in an aircraft an appropriately trained and qualified owner can fly.
Prefer the view from the back? Plenty of PC-12s are professionally crewed as well.
We’ve worked with owners who fly every trip themselves, owners who haven’t touched the controls, and owners who like the option of doing both.
The Pick of the Pilatus
More than three decades of production have created a remarkably diverse pre-owned market. From the PC-12/45 aircraft through the PC-12/47, PC-12 NG, PC-12 NGX, and newest PC-12 PRO generation.
Each comes with its own mix of avionics, equipment, performance, cabin features, maintenance considerations, and price points.
And newer isn’t automatically better for every buyer. We can’t emphasize that enough!
We’ve spent our careers in the Pilatus world, and one of the first things we do with an acquisition client isn’t start sending airplanes.
We start asking questions… How many people are you carrying? Where are you going? Who is flying? How much do you want to spend? What equipment matters to you? What maintenance events are coming?
Only then can you determine which PC-12 makes sense.
Holding Value
An aircraft’s capabilities matter while you own it.
Its market matters when it’s time to sell it.
After years of tracking the pre-owned Pilatus market, we’ve seen firsthand just how loyal PC-12 owners can be. There’s a reason these airplanes don’t simply disappear from someone’s life when they’re sold. Many owners eventually find themselves right back in another Pilatus.
Part of that comes down to the aircraft itself. The PC-12 can appeal to an unusually broad range of buyers. An owner-pilot, family, corporation, charter operator, and special-mission organization can all be shopping for the same basic airplane for completely different reasons.
Combine that with disciplined production from Pilatus and decades of proven utility, and you have an aircraft that has historically maintained a strong position in the pre-owned marketplace.
We evaluate more than a dozen factors when determining the market value of a Pilatus. Year, total time, engine time, equipment, maintenance status, cosmetics, damage history, pedigree, location, and current market conditions can all make two seemingly similar PC-12s very different airplanes.
Understanding the airplane is one thing. Understanding where it fits in the market is another. You need both. Fill out our Pilatus Appraisal Report form for a complimentary Pilatus Evaluation.
So, Is the PC-12 the Best Turboprop Plane?
Yes. But we’ll be honest, we’re a little biased. Pilatus is our sole focus!
But we’ve also spent years buying, selling, flying, managing, evaluating, and studying these aircraft. We’ve had a front-row seat to why owners continue choosing the PC-12 year after year.
The PC-12 isn’t the best turboprop because it wins every specification on paper.
It’s one of the best turboprop planes because of how many missions it can accomplish well. And perhaps most importantly, it gives owners options.
Finding Your PC-12
You knew this was coming, right? Insert self-promo here…
At JetSwiss, we exclusively focus on Pilatus. Our team knows the different PC-12 variants, the airplanes currently available, the ones that aren’t publicly for sale, the maintenance considerations hiding beneath the surface, and how each aircraft stacks up against the rest of the market.
There is no universally perfect airplane. There is, however, a right airplane for your mission. If a PC-12 is on your radar, we’re here to help you figure out which one—and whether it makes sense for you in the first place.
Leave the navigating to us®