Aircraft: 1999 Pilatus PC 12/45. The PC/12 is a single-engine turboprop passenger and cargo aircraft originally produced in 1994. In July 2016, Pilatus announced the 1400th PC-12 had been delivered.

Owner: Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)

Need: This PC-12 operates in very remote regions of the Yukon, where navigation and communication system installed onboard the aircraft are crucial for the safety of flight. The Air Services Branch authorized a program to to upgrade the outdated Avionics system in its legacy PC-12’s. The need consists mainly of upgrading the GPS /NAY/ COM navigation and communication systems to provide a means to carry out Autopilot coupled RNAV( GPS ) Approaches and also the installation of Police Communication radios and other minor improvements. They also own some newer PC-12 NG’s with Honeywell Flight Decks and wanted similar capability in the legacy PC-12’s they operate.

Summary of Equipment:

• GTN 750 GPS/Nav/Com (Garmin)
• GTN 650 GPS/Nav/Com (Garmin)
• MD41 Terrain Awareness Annunciation Control Unit (Mid-Continent)
• TDFM-614 VHF/UHF Radio (Technisonic)
• AMS-6000 Audio Mode Selector (Technisonic)
• Pilot/Co-Pilot Bose panel powered headset connectors (LEMO)
• AC Power Outlet (Emteq)
• Create and supply relevant STC’s for the above work (Maxcraft)

The Story: This was a competitive government bid that Maxcraft submitted and was awarded for at least one PC-12 upgrade but potentially more of the RCMP’s fleet. The work involved substantial integration efforts with existing avionics including radar systems, auto pilot, TCAS/TAWS systems, RMI’s, CDI’s, DME, Air Data Computers, etc. Maxcraft also was responsible to create the certification documents and have Transport Canada issue approvals via a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC). Maxcraft also carried out the necessary steps required to obtain Transport Canada Approval to remove the following Autopilot Limitation included in the Pilatus PC-12 POH that the autopilot must be disengaged, when the airplane is below 1000 ft AGL. The system is now approved for autopilot coupled approaches to 200 feet AGL .

As well the contract stipulated we had a promised short downtime and we are happy to say the aircraft departed on schedule from Maxcraft’s hangar. We look forward to seeing more of RCMP’s PC-12 fleet in our hangar soon.