Portsmouth, New Hampshire-based fractional provider PlaneSense is getting ready to receive the first production Pilatus PC-24, now that the twinjet has been certified by both the FAA and EASA. It will ceremoniously take delivery of PC-24 S/N 101—currently registered as HB-VSB—later this month at Pilatus’s headquarters in Stans, Switzerland. But the aircraft won’t be flown to the U.S. until late January or early February to allow time for PlaneSense’s pilots and maintenance technicians to be trained on the new jet.
According to PlaneSense president and CEO George Antoniadis, 11 pilots will undergo PC-24 training at FlightSafety’s Houston learning center in the first quarter, with the first class batch—among them the pilots who will ferry S/N 101 from Switzerland to Portsmouth—starting on January 8 and finishing three weeks later. All 11 are captains and have jet training in the Nextant 400XTi, a type that PlaneSense added last year to kick off its jet program ahead of PC-24 deliveries. They will also receive follow-on intensive PC-24 training from Pilatus test pilots, who will be on site in Portsmouth for about four weeks after delivery. Another dozen pilots will undergo PC-24 training in 2018, Antoniadis said.
Eight PlanseSense maintenance technicians will go through dedicated PC-24 training in the first quarter, with classroom instruction at FlightSafety Houston and hands-on training in Stans. “Others will then go through the training throughout the year as the fleet grows,” he noted.
PlaneSense’s jet program customers will be able to fly aboard the PC-24 in late February or early March, following proving flights and addition of the jet type to the company’s Part 91K/135 ops specs. The fractional provider will take delivery of two more PC-24s next year. As the PC-24 fleet grows, Antoniadis told AIN that the 400XTis will be “retired,” eventually returning PlaneSense to an all-Pilatus fleet of PC-12 turboprop singles and PC-24 jets.
font: ainonline