Went for a cool plane ride today

[MaxxVolume]

My neighbor Bill called me early this morning, and said "My cousin is flying into the local airport this afternoon, he`s gonna take me up for a ride....you wanna go ?"

Now, I vaguely recall a conversation we had a couple years back, where he mentioned this cousin who is a pilot, and has his own plane. But, I pretty much dismissed it after that. I figured the guy probably has a little Cessna, Piper Cub, something like that. So, I was about ready to blow it off, until Bill mentions that the plane in question is a 4-million dollar Pilatus PC-12 turbo-prop. Of course, I quickly changed that response to "Hell YEAH, I`ll go !"

This was a very impressive aircraft....Swiss-made, and it showed it. Attention to detail was incredible, it reminded me of a flying Land Rover, equal parts of comfort and utility. Big, roomy cabin, lavatory, plenty of cargo space. Had a huge cargo door in the back, about the size of a sliding door on a van. Short, rough-field takeoff and landing capability. Top speed - 320 mph, range - 1500 miles. Pressurized cabin, 30,000 ft. ceiling.

The only thing that kinda weirded me out was the fact that it was only a single-engine plane. I was assured that their safety record is outstanding.
It was a great ride, I definitely see the appeal of that plane ! :thmbsp:

 

[SPL db]

Look something like this?

That would have been a fun ride! :yes:

 

[sfox52]

That Pilatus is state of the art & had to be one cool ride! I spent lots of time in single engine planes when I was young and I'd gladly ride in a Cub or 172 if I had faith in it's operator. The guys used to say that the second engine gets you to the scene of the crash sooner.

 

[Sandy G]

Earlier models from this Mfg'er were "STOL"-Short Take-Off or Landing.

 

[elcoholic]

Love flying in small aircraft, it's been a long while. In the mid 70's my boss owned 1/2 a Piper dealership. Got lots of flights. Better than that was flying with my uncle in his Aero Commander when I was a teenager. That was a great plane.

 

[SPL db]

Earlier models from this Mfg'er were "STOL"-Short Take-Off or Landing.

Good for smuggling I suppose... not that I would know anything about that... ara:

 

[electronjohn]

Neat!

 

[Sandy G]

Good for smuggling I suppose... not that I would know anything about that... ara:

Yeah, but they were originally designed to be able to get into places other planes couldn't. "Unimproved" fields, I think they are called..

 

[PR Audio]

Pilatus makes great workhorses, expensive, but some of the best bush planes there are. Very popular with the parachute jumping crowd too.


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[MaxxVolume]

Yeah, but they were originally designed to be able to get into places other planes couldn't. "Unimproved" fields, I think they are called..

Pilatus makes great workhorses, expensive, but some of the best bush planes there are. Very popular with the parachute jumping crowd too.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The owner of the Pilatus is a real estate wheeler/dealer who flies all over the country looking for properties, so I guess having a plane with this capability is a big advantage....

 

[skippy_ps]

Very cool. What a great opportunity.

Murray

 

[59volvo]

This is the ultimate Pilatus for STOL - the porter

 

[PR Audio]

The owner of the Pilatus is a real estate wheeler/dealer who flies all over the country looking for properties, so I guess having a plane with this capability is a big advantage....

I'm in Commercial Real Estate, many times I have used helicopters for scouting, I'm lucky to have two good friends with helicopters and they only charge me for fuel used; aircrafts are a great tool.

When Sam Walton wanted to know the economic growth of an area where he was considering establishing a store, or to check performance of a store, he would take his Cessna and fly over to count how many cars were parked in the store parking lot.


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[Sandy G]

Oh, yeah... Pilatus planes are like every other thing that's "Swiss" made- HIDEOUSLY expensive, but they do EVERYTHING that's asked of them, & then some.

 

[tomlinmgt]

This is the ultimate Pilatus for STOL - the porter

I used to skydive back in college in Flagler Beach and Deland, FL doing most of my jumps out of Dehavilland Twin Otters. I recall a Porter showing up at the DZ once and man, what a bad ass plane. I'm also a pilot and was just amazed at the climb capabilities and time to altitude that thing could pull off. I also knew a guy at the time who owned a Westwind (Beech 18 with PT-6 conversion) and he was drooling over that Porter...and he didn't envy many other planes.