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One Thousand Upgrades and Counting
Pilatus PC-24 Update
by Rich Pickett
PHOTOS COURTESY OF PILATUS-AIRCRAFT.COM
I’ve had the pleasure of flying the Pila- tus PC-24 several times, and since its introduction, Pilatus has produced
over 200 of these jets. It is a very suc- cessful product and an impressive business jet in its use of technology and utility. It is still the only business jet certified to land equally on dirt, grass, and hard surface runways.
While its utility and form have held a unique place in our industry, its full- fuel payload and range were not equiv- alent to its competitors, primarily the Cessna Citation CJ4, Embraer Phenom 300, and perhaps the Cessna Citation XLS. That has changed, starting with Serial Number 501.
PC-24s, starting with Serial Num- ber 501, will be the recipient of nearly 1,000 modifications to the aircraft.
10 • TWIN & TURBINE / December 2023
Pilatus likes to categorize the chang- es as follows: More range, payload,
and possibilities.
Many aircraft manufacturers update their products with various changes over time. We see avionics upgrades, platform changes, software and hard- ware updates, and, frequently, sub- stantial changes in interior designs. While others provide new owners with some changes in zero-fuel or other weight and balance categories, this is the first aircraft update I’ve reviewed with so many changes within one model.
Payload and Range Increases
One of the primary goals of Pi- latus was to make significant struc- tural changes that would result in
lowering the empty weight, increasing the maximum weight, and offering longer range—all the while increasing the full-fuel payload, which was criti- cal. To reduce weight, the OEM needs to change the structure and other com- ponents. Pilatus redesigned over 700 components through a combination of changes in the design and the uti- lization of more advanced materials. Some weight-saving measures were small, from a 0.6 lb change on an oil door hinge to other more significant ones, such as the 15 lb saved using car- bon fiber ground spoilers. Incremental savings over the 700 items, even with the enhanced interior, have resulted in savings of 160 pounds.
While weight reductions are use- ful, increasing the structural weight