AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - April 2021 - T-16

47.3 feet

51.2 feet

SPEC SHEET

2010 Pilatus PC-12NG

2020 Embraer Phenom 300E

PRICE NEW $5.3 MILLION

PRICE NEW $9.65 MILLION

Wing span | 	

53 ft 4 in

52.2 ft

Length | 	

47.3 ft

51.2 ft

Height | 	

14 ft

16.7 ft

269 kt

464 kt

Max cruise speed | 	

53.4 feet

Max range | 	

1,548 nm

2,010 nm

Max takeoff weight | 	

10,450 lb

18,552 lb

Time to climb | 	 19 min to FL250

14 min to FL370

Max payload w/full fuel | 	 988 lb

1,586 lb

Max operating altitude | 	30,000 ft

45,000 ft

Takeoff distance | 	

2,650 ft

3,209 ft

Landing distance | 	

1,830 ft

2,212 ft

52.2 feet

16.7 feet

THERE'S A BIG DIFFERENCE between the

Pilatus PC-12 Howley owned before moving up to his Phenom 300E (above). The
airplane (right) just happens to be the
same one AOPA Pilot Turbine
Edition reviewed in the May 2020 issue.
The air-to-air photo was taken east of
Florida's Melbourne International Airport-
home of Embraer's Executive Jet division.

Howley began flying by learning in
a piston single, then moving on to own a
Cessna 182, a Cessna Turbo 210, a Cessna
Caravan, and a Pilatus PC-12NG. He's used
his airplanes to do PALS flights for about
100 hours per year (see " Flight Before
Christmas, " September 2012 AOPA Pilot),
like many PALS volunteers, as well as a
fair amount of recreational flying. Some
of those recreational flights are pretty
ambitious, and they take him to foreign
locations with like-minded turbine pilots.
On one such trip, Howley was in a group
with three single-pilot jets. That did it. He
had planned to buy a new PC-12NGX, but
after looking the jets over, he changed his
mind. " I thought the PC-12 would be that
last airplane I'd own, " he said. " But the idea
of flying a jet...that's the ultimate bucketlist item. " Howley set his sights on buying
a new Embraer Phenom 300E.
He quickly realized that moving to a
Phenom wasn't all that simple. With 5,000
hours total time (and 3,500 hours of it in
PC-12s) Howley had turbine experience-
but he had a private pilot certificate and an
instrument rating. " I needed a multiengine

" I told him 'look, you're flying a jet now.
Act like it. This is the big league. You
have to learn to rely on other people.' "
T-16 | AOPA PILOT April 2021

14 feet

rating, and at least a second-in-command
[SIC] type rating to legally fly a jet, " he
said. Then there was the matter of insurance. Flying single-pilot, the premiums
could hit a staggering $150,000 or so per
year; flying in a two-crew operation lowers
the price to about $25,000 per year. That
meant that he'd need another pilot, typerated and experienced in the Phenom 300,
up front with him. Plus a commercial pilot
certificate for flying under Part 135.
Howley needed to act fast. When he
bought the Phenom in June 2020, he had
just six weeks to score the commercial/
multi/SIC tickets if he was going to take
delivery by the planned date. Through Nick
Newby, an aircraft broker and friend who
was Pilatus' senior vice president of customer service, Howley learned of Summit
Aviation, a large flight training and charter operation based at Bozeman, Montana's
Yellowstone International Airport. " You
may not like doing all that training in such
a short time, Joe, " Newby said. " But if you
want a pathway to do this the right way,
this is it. "
Summit uses Diamond DA42s for multiengine training, which Howley preferred
because of the glass cockpit and other
modern features. Although Summit's main
training focus is with a nearby college's
aviation program, President Ben Walton
AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - April 2021

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