Elite Traveler Winter 2024/25

INSPIRE TOPJETS

PILATUS PC-24 You wouldn’t dream of taking your jet into a dirt runway — or would you? With its recent rough surface certi fi cation, the Pilatus PC-24 o ff ers the option to fl y into places in the Outback in Australia or the Canyonlands of Utah, for example, taking you directly into airstrips untouchable by other light jets. For the PC-24’s most recent iteration — serial number 501 and up — Pilatus put a sharp pencil to the components that went into the airframe and carved out a reduction in the airplane’s empty weight to give clients the option to boost their range by 200 nm (with six passengers) or add roughly 600 lbs of additional payload, to a maximum of 3,100 lbs. And that cargo can include all of the equipment you need to enjoy the remote destinations o ff ered up by the PC-24: Mountain bikes, surfboards and your favorite canine companions can be loaded easily through the large rear cargo door. That loading pro fi le also makes the PC-24 a winner for companies like PlaneSense, which can use the cabin to o ff er various con fi gurations to its customers. Or, you can recon fi gure the jet for use in public service missions like air ambulances. On the sustainability side, Pilatus’ recently expanded completion facility in Broom fi eld, Colorado, makes use of the latest in manufacturing tech, including a Zünd digital cutting machine to optimize the use of leather for the PC-24’s (and turboprop PC-12’s) interior — reducing the waste in each template. pilatus-aircraft.com

BY THE NUMBERS Price $12.5m

Seats 6 in an executive con fi guration Range 2,000 nm with 6 passengers

Photos Katsuhiko Tokunaga