First PC-12 Pro Owner Flies Aircraft Home to Australia

Pilatus has delivered the first example of its PC-12 Pro turboprop single. Yesterday, the company announced that former Hewlett-Packard CEO Dion Weisler had received the new aircraft at its Swiss headquarters and then personally flew it back to his home in Australia.

Launched in March, the PC-12 Pro is fitted with a Garmin G3000 Prime avionics suite featuring five touchscreen displays, replacing the Honeywell Apex system used in the previous PC-12 NG and NGX models. This includes Garmin’s GFC 700 autopilot with autothrottle and emergency autoland system. Additionally, the $6.8 million PC-12 Pro includes a 100-pound maximum payload increase, additional cabin options, and special paint schemes.

The new aircraft is Weisler’s fourth PC-12—he previously owned a PC-12 NG and a pair of PC-12 NGXs. He reached his home in Adelaide after 41 flight hours across six days, with stops in Crete, Egypt, Oman, India, Malaysia, Bali, and Darwin.

“It was an incredible learning opportunity to fly my own aircraft home over such a vast distance with a factory pilot sitting right seat,” Weisler said. “In addition to visiting all these amazing countries, it really allowed me to consolidate the crossover training within the new Garmin cockpit environment and have someone right there to ask any questions about anything that popped up. I am thrilled to own this new intuitive and highly innovative aircraft, and look forward to flying many missions in the future with it.”

According to Pilatus v-p for business aviation André Zimmerman, the improvements introduced with the new Pro model were entirely driven by input from existing customers and the desire to add more value to the aircraft. The new type retains the PC-12 family’s Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 engine and can operate on sustainable aviation fuel.