the basis for the NTx, by mid-2013 the
project was described by the company’s
management as in ‘standby mode’.
The existence of Piaggio’s P1XX concept
emerged in 2005 and was expected to lead
to a family of light-to-medium twinjets. Few
details were made known and it was not
officially launched by the company.
The timing of all three projects was poor.
Economic conditions following the nancial
banking crisis of 2007/2008 were grim; it was
not a good environment in which to launch
a new aircraft. Sales of light and business
aircraft plummeted, with the manufacturers’
trade organisation recording 3,970 aircraft
shipments in 2008, 2,276 the following year
and 2,010 in 2015 – nearly a 50% decline.
Investors shied away from the industry and
Daher-Socata and Piaggio instead invested
in existing product lines. Pilatus Aircraft,
however, saw things differently.
ADAPTABILITY
The company is Switzerland’s largest aircraft
manufacturer, in terms of total deliveries. As
the PC-24 Super Versatile Jet (SVJ) comes
on stream, the current portfolio includes the
PC-7/9 and PC-21 military trainers, the PC-6
Turbo Porter utility aircraft and the PC-12
single-engine, light utility turboprop.
Since the rst PC-12 was handed over
in September 1994, more than 1,600 have
entered service. The success is accounted
in part by its versatility – the large range of
potential missions, ranging from corporate
transport to surveillance platform, including
aeromedical evacuation, commercial
passenger services and freight hauling.
The suitability of the aircraft to many of
the roles it currently undertakes is helped by
an upward-opening 1.35 x 1.32m (4ft 5in x 4ft
4in) cargo door at the rear of the port side
of the fuselage. The door literally opened up
opportunities for some operators who need
to carry more than passengers; broadening
its appeal to the market. At the time this was
important (and still is), as many aviation
regulators in the 1990s and 2000s were
reluctant to certify passenger operations in
single-engined aircraft.
Some customers for the PC-12 expressed
an interest in a larger utility aircraft, with the
same rugged attributes of the turboprop,
including short take-off and landing, but able
to y faster and have a bigger cabin.
Using its own funds, Pilatus initiated
studies in 2007 and quickly concluded that a
jet-powered design would be required. Brief
consideration was given to acquiring and
completing development of the composite
SPn, before selecting to pursue an all-new
design, primarily made of aluminium alloy, as
used in the PC-12. The new aircraft would be
called the PC-24.LIKE AN ‘SUV’ CAR
The Pilatus board gave the project the green
light in mid-2012, and, soon after, on July
9 an application for certi cation was made
to the European Aviation Safety Agency
(EASA). The programme was formally
announced on May 21, 2013 at the European
Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition
(EBACE), held each year at Geneva Airport
in Switzerland.
Although unveiled at Europe’s premier
business aviation event, Pilatus emphasised
the PC-24 was not just another entry in that
crowded market. Instead, it promoted the
aircraft as the airborne equivalent of the
‘sports utility vehicle’ (SUV) so loved by car
makers. It would come with a ‘hatchback’
in the form of a 1.30 x 1.25m (51 x 49in)freight door on the rear of the port side of the
fuselage, between the trailing-edge of the
wing and the podded Williams International
FJ44-4A-QPM power plants.
A mock-up of the fuselage was displayed
on the Pilatus stand inside the Palexpo centre
at EBACE. Although it had an executive
interior with six cabin seats, during interviews
Pilatus Aircraft chairman, Oscar J Schwenk,
was keen to describe it as an SVJ. The
14.2m (501cu ft) at- oor cabin, with a length
of 7m (22ft 12in) from the cockpit divider,
1.55m (5ft 10in) high and 1.69m (5ft 7in) at its
widest, could accommodate ten commuter
passengers, be con gured with a combi
interior (‘club-four’ seating with cargo aft), for
cargo or with an aeromedical care suite. An
eight-seat executive interior was also offered
in addition to the six-seat layout displayed.
The aircraft is designed to allow for a quick-
change between con gurations. Pilatus
claimed the PC-24 had the largest cabin
windows in its class.
Honeywell Primus Apex avionics formed
the basis of the Pilatus ACE (Advanced
Cockpit Environment), with four 30.5cm (12in)
displays arranged in a ‘T’ on the instrument
panel and console. The jet could be own by
a single pilot.
Roll-out of the prototype was scheduled
for the third quarter of 2014, the maiden ight
before the end of that year, and European
and US certi cation in early 2017.ORDERS FLOOD IN
If Pilatus ever needed reassuring it was
heading in the right direction, it was
con rmed one year later, back at Geneva,
when the company officially opened the
aircraft’s order book. The rm planned to
produce 84 PC-24s between 2017 and
2019 and offered to take non-refundable
deposits for those slots. All 84 positions were
accounted for within 36 hours. Customers
identi ed at the time were Abu Dhabi
charter and management company Falcon
Aviation Services (four); fractional ownership
companies Jet y of Luxembourg (six) and
PlaneSense of Portsmouth, New Hampshire
(six); and Australia’s Royal Flying Doctor
Service (three).
Manufacture of components for the rst
prototype (P01) had begun in Switzerland
around the time the programme was revealed.
Registered as HB-VXA, the aircraft camethe basis for the NTx, by mid-2013 the
project was described by the company’s
management as in ‘standby mode’.
emerged in 2005 and was expected to lead
to a family of light-to-medium twinjets. Few
details were made known and it was not
officially launched by the company.
Economic conditions following the nancial
banking crisis of 2007/2008 were grim; it was
not a good environment in which to launch
a new aircraft. Sales of light and business
aircraft plummeted, with the manufacturers’
trade organisation recording 3,970 aircraft
shipments in 2008, 2,276 the following year
and 2,010 in 2015 – nearly a 50% decline.
http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 29
Pilatus believes there is a
market for 4,000 PC-24s
over the next 40 years.
All photos Pilatus Aircraft