It’s been six years since Pilatus Aircraft upgraded the venerable single-engine PC-12 utility turboprop to the NGX version, and Pilatus announced in early 2025 that it was switching the PC-12’s avionics to a full Garmin suite. But before that, AIN editor-in-chief Matt Thurber visited Pilatus Business Aircraft’s U.S. headquarters in Broomfield, Colorado, where he got the opportunity to fly the latest PC-12 NGX and experience all the great features of this airplane as it had developed over the years since it first entered service in 1994. Since then, Pilatus has built more than 2,000 PC-12s, and the type is still going strong.
Pilatus Business Aircraft chief pilot Gerard Lambe planned a flight from Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport (KBJC) to Steamboat Springs (KSBS), a relatively short flight for the PC-12 NGX, which has a maximum range of 1,800 nm. With four occupants and 1,500 pounds of fuel, the PC-12 was loaded to nearly 9,000 pounds, well below the 10,450-pound maximum takeoff weight. There was plenty of payload available for more people or bulky baggage that could be loaded through the turboprop’s big rear baggage door, one of the features that sets it apart from other single-engine turboprops, at least until the Beechcraft Denali is certified.
The NGX is the last of the PC-12s with a Honeywell avionics suite, which came online in 2008, and its capable and powerful avionics made for a smooth transition for pilots moving into Pilatus’ PC-24 jet, which has the same avionics suite.