FLYING THE BRAND NEW PC-24 JET in the SWISS ALPS!

It's a beautiful day in Switzerland. We're here at Pilatus and we're going to fly the PC-24 to one of the most exotic destinations in the Swiss Alps. Alright, welcome aboard, Maurits. Thanks for having us on board the PC-24. I'm so excited about this flight today. We're going to be doing a VFR flight today out to the western part of the Swiss Alps, correct? Yes. This is going to be exciting. We're here at Pilatus and this is the factory where they build these airplanes. And what's really cool about this is coming up here we have two roads we have to cross, public roads, to get to the runway. So he's clicked three times on a certain frequency and we're going to get some lights here to let us know when we're cleared to cross. And the lights will also stop the vehicle traffic. It's a beautiful day in Switzerland. That's the brake check. Flight instruments, I check it's silent. There's always been a bucket list of mine to fly a PC-24 around Switzerland. Now we have green lights. The first road is free. This is the first road. That's the first of all roads. Coming up here you can see the cars crossing. We have to wait for our red light to go green so we can cross this highway with the PC-24. We've got tractors coming. We've got some people walking out here. We still have our red light over here to the right you can see. You see the track? There it is, green. Green light, left side is clear. And to the right is clear even though we're cleared to cross. We don't want to get smashed into by a vehicle here. Okay, we crossed the road. Oh no, that's Zuppi! There he is. That's our buddy. Flight instruments check. System summary windows. We have flaps 1-5. The trim is set. The batteries are almost loaded. Until we are at the holding point we will have amps less than 50. Fuel is okay, balanced. And this is the destination for the pressurization, Saanen. IPS, the ice protection system. We have good weather conditions. Everything remains in automation mode. We will not need this for today's flight. So we'll be VFR today? Yes. Up to the west and we're going to actually do some low level flying maybe a little bit? And a little bit higher cruising altitude flying? We go to the mountains, look for good sceneries. And then we will land on a short airfield in the west of Switzerland. It's called Saanen. Nice. Takeoff briefing. Precision speed is 88. Management function before I call stop idle braking. Rotate 90. Engine failure after V1. I go to pitch 9. Full power, check ATR. Gear up. We proceed to the east. Climbing to 5000 feet local. I leave the flaps 1-5. Then we do the troubleshooting and come back with the configuration flaps 1-5 gear down. Or landing in Tobux. Piratis 504, ready for line up. Request via AMAT into R39. Up to FL120. AMAT 504, line up 06. Lining up runway 06, AMAT. Piratis 504. Do you need R39 ABC? I don't need R39, just to enter and then we proceed to westbound. Got a glider there, that's pretty cool. So yeah, we've been given clearance to line up and wait here on runway 06. I'll tell you right now, this is the best day I've ever seen here in Switzerland. Not a cloud in the sky. Calm winds. As it should be. I'm excited. You have the weather? Goody so. Runway 06 cleared for takeoff and crossing R39 is approved. Cleared for takeoff, runway 06, crossing R39 is approved. Next plane leaving CTR, Piratis 504. 1,000-2,000 feet and cars, no warnings. The thrust will move automatically to takeoff power. All in the green. The runway is free and go. Wow. Man, that does throw you in your seat. Two good engines, looking good. Speed alive. Fixed it. V1, rotate. I'm going to tell you right now, that throws you in your seat. Positive climb, gear up, you're the prone. My goodness, look at this, guys. I switch flight level change. The thrust will go automatically back to max continuous thrust. Speed, I have to accelerate to 130 knots. Then I clean up the aircraft. Sounds good. The throttle will be set to 170. 130 and flaps up. Wow, this thing is super smooth. Yeah. I can't even feel the engines right here. It's so calm. You have the impression you have a double engine flame out. Yeah, that's what it feels like, it sounds like. I start the initial turn. I do quickly the climb check. Gear is up, your debris is engaged. Flaps is up. Thrust is MCT. EPCS pressure is climbing. Altimeter, I leave the QNH. And lights, I leave all on. That's pretty cool too, it shows you the terrain and how high it is out here in front of you. Yes. Wow, you look out these windows, guys. Look, this is the Swiss Alps. I don't think it gets any better than this. This is just unbelievable. Amazing. I switch off the flight director. And I turn. Look at that, wow. We go direction Titlis Mountain. Sounds good. This is just incredible. This may be my favorite jet flight so far that I've ever flown. Besides the Thunderbirds and the F-16. But this is really nice for corporate, private jet. This is probably, definitely. If you wish, you can have the aircraft. My aircraft? Yes. My controls. Your controls, climb to 1,200 feet. Okay. And which heading would you like me on? Keep the heading. I give you the heading back. Okay, you can keep the heading. Perfect. 1,200 feet. Yes. You've got a climb rate of almost 4,000 feet a minute. I do the radio call. Roger. Altimeter setting, altimeter setting. This is unbelievable. This handles, this is smooth. That's 1,000 to go. Yes. Climbed into 1,200. We're climbing up almost at 4,000 feet a minute. So we'll start to level off here. We're at a pretty good climb rate. There we go. Leveling out at 1,200. My goodness. This thing, the hand flying it is so smooth. Yes, and the aircraft is very stable. Very stable. Now you can turn to 2 o'clock. And flying it here? Yeah. Okay, at 1,200. It's holding altitude perfect just by hand flying it. It's a really, really, like you said, a really, really stable airplane. Do you see the mountain with the black hole? With the, uh, the hole? With the black hole? Okay. We fly straight there and then we do a 360 around it. I tell you then when you can do the 360. Okay. It's a famous mountain. A lot of Indian people go up there and sometimes they do the marriage. Oh, do they really? Yeah. Indian people have a marriage area for them. I did just propose to my girlfriend, Juliet, who's riding in the back today. Glad to see how she enjoyed the flight back there. I proposed her on the top of a mountain right over here by Stans. It was amazing. There you see a station. Oh yeah, yeah, I see the station. Yes. That peak right here. Yes. Okay, perfect. We fly around this peak. Okay. So this is where all the Indians used to go to get married? Yeah. Interesting. And do you remember the name of this mountain? Gitlis. Gitlis? Gitlis, yes. Gitlis. And there's like a station on top of the mountain there. Yeah, you can go up by cableway. Oh, can you really? Yeah. And is that like a weather station or just a station for like tourism? A station for tourism and also a weather station installation. Clear to the right. Yes. And we'll start a nice turn around the point here. This is, look at that. That's the station right down there. I bet you need to dress warm because there's still a lot of snow up here on the top of these mountains. You can do a sharp turn around it. Okay. I'm trying to see if I can see some people down there. I'm sure there's people down there, right? Yeah. Wow, look at that. Oh, I see it's under construction. Yeah, look at that. Yeah. Unbelievable. So all the Indians used to come up here to get married. That is pretty cool. They picked a good spot. Yeah, I don't see the cable car running at all. So I don't think there's anybody up here. Maybe it's too early. That's it right down there. I do the radio call with Swiss Air Force Air Base Meiringen for a passing. Okay. Meiringen Tower, go ahead and talk. Pilatus 504, PC24, deep please, 12,000 feet, direct Finch-Dragon. Altimeter setting, altimeter setting. Pilatus 504, Meiringen Tower, say again your altitude. 12,000 feet. Pilatus 504, cleared to cross at 12,000 feet, QNH 1008, report completed. Cleared to cross at 12,000 feet, QNH 1008, Pilatus 504. Now we are cleared to cross. That is by far the most beautiful turnaround a point I've ever done in my entire aviation career. Okay. Great. You can turn, go 15 degrees to the right. 15, right? Yep. Boy, so right up here in front of us, these peaks look pretty high. These are the Bernese Alps. Oh wow, the Bernese Alps. Yes. Now we turn to the mountains. Okay, we'll turn over to the mountains. They're already the frequency for the landing, 119.030. This airport is pretty unique that we're going into. In our briefing, they were showing me it's in a valley. This is going to be pretty exciting to see how the procedures for you to get in there to land. It's pretty cool with the little wheel down there, the little mouse, you can scroll around to everything on your display. Yes. I accelerate to 90 knots. Perfect. I can't believe we're flying towards these things. It looks amazing. I've never done anything like this in my entire aviation career ever. For us, it's daily business. Daily business. No, no, it's not daily business. Well, you come over to Florida one day and I'll take you flying around the Bahamas. Okay. This is going to be really amazing right here. So now we have a little gap there. You see it at about 12, one and a half o'clock. Yep. Okay, we go through this gap. Go right over there and do that. Yep. Okay, I got it. If we see more and more terrain on the background, we are sure that we are higher. Oh, yeah, we're going to get a lot of terrain. Should we inhibit that? Yes, I inhibit. We are VMC. Oh, my God. Look at that, guys. That is insane. That is amazing. I've never seen anything like that in my entire life. Terrain inhibit. That was the most beautiful thing I think I've ever done in an airplane. I'm basically going to go over to the left of this one here. You can cross this. Cross this and then go over there to the left a little bit? Yes, that's good. Okay, perfect. Boy, we might start an avalanche if our afterburners are too loud on this snowbank right here in front of us. Look at that off the left wing. My goodness. Simply. And on the left, we have a glacier. Oh, wow, that's a glacier right down here. Yes, but it's not the biggest one. The biggest one will pop up in a few minutes. Right off your left wing, guys, if you look down there, that's a glacier. I think we're going to get a bigger one here in a few minutes, supposedly. It's not even that bumpy for going through here. Yes. Want me to continue straight? Wow. Wow, look at that. You see this hole at 2 o'clock? Yes. Go there. Go right over there. Look at this. Hopefully, the front camera is going to catch this. This is one of the bigger glaciers? This is the biggest one. It is called Aletsch Glacier. My goodness, wow. It's so smooth. Actually, it's like a compass. I have a traffic 700 feet higher on the nose. We have to watch out. Let's keep an eye out for this guy. Yes. You can go a little bit lower. Okay, I'll dive down a little bit here. Just a little bit. Yes. A thousand feet above us. A thousand feet differential altitude. Keep an eye out here. We have 1,000 feet and the traffic is at 2.5 miles. Looking. I don't see him yet. Yes, I got him in sight now. Right up here at 1 o'clock. Okay. See him right up there? Yes, I got it. Thank you. We keep it in sight. Look at this. We're going to go right down through this little gap right here. Keeping an eye on that traffic. It's called Leuchtengap. Right here. Wow. This is magical. Traffic. I got him in sight. My control. Your controls. I go a little bit down. See him right here? Yes. Okay. I got it. Let's see. It looks like a... It's a small aircraft. Single engine piston. Yes. Right there. We're significantly faster than him. We'll go around him to pass him on his right. Good. He's enjoying his flight, I'm sure, today, too. System works. Level off. Okay. Clear of conflict. We had it in sight. That's awesome. We just do what the system tells you. Yes. Now your control. My controls. I should do the descend and approach check. I hope you guys are enjoying this flight as much as I am. We're getting views of places probably no humans have even been in this world. Some of these peaks. Approach descent check already completed. Roger. It's one of the quietest jets I've ever flown in. At flight level 450, you can do 45 degrees turns. Can you really? And you will not lose any knot. Oh, my goodness. That's amazing. Check the position and then I will announce. Now you can turn around this mountain here. Okay. Clear to the left. Left is clear. I could sit up here all day and fly around these mountains. Okay. This is just amazing. It's a paradise. Oh, it is. As I told you yesterday. It's magical up here. To see this firsthand, it's unbelievable. Do you see the white glacier there? Yes. We go there. Nothing better than this. Hand flying a PC-44 around the Swiss Alps. I'm so glad I'm able to make a video for everybody to see this. What avionics package is this? It's Honeywell. Honeywell Apex? Apex. Okay. If you look down, you can see small villages like off our right wing down there. There's a little small village. That's what's so cool about Switzerland. You've got these massive big Alps. Then you've got little villages all over. It's just amazing to drive through and explore. ZANA, PILATUS 504, PC-24, how do you read? PILATUS 504, I read 5. Position? Wiltsch-Trupel, 11,500 feet for landing. Request wind? PILATUS 504, for the moment we don't have wind, so runway 26 in use. Okay. I will do an upwind, downwind for runway 26, PILATUS 504. Now you can slowly descend. Okay, we'll start a slow VFR descent here. Yeah. I'll take the speed brakes. Okay. If you look out the wing out there, you'll see the speed brakes come up. That's going to help slow us up. It doesn't even give much of a rumble at all on this airplane when you deploy. Yeah, because we are already slow. That's true. Okay, now you have to turn this direction. Yes. And you can go down to 5,000. 5,000? Yeah. Clear to the right. Look at how the house is right down below us. PILATUS 504, do you copy? PILATUS 504, go ahead. PILATUS 504, for our information, do you require fuel on ground? Negative. The airport is around this corner. Okay. Oh yeah, in the briefing now I see where it's going to be running in this direction. I go to FMS speed. Now you can lift a little bit the nose, then I set flaps 1-5. Okay. Speed off our speed. Okay, speed is checked. I go to flaps 1-5. Selected. The speed goes back to 1-5-0. Going down to 5,000 feet. Do you have the runway in sight down there? Yeah, the runway is down there. Perfect. First we go to upwind, then downwind, then base turn. Okay. It is also a former military air base. They used to fly here with the vampires. We go to the upwind. Oh, there we go. Now I see it. Okay. Right off our left wing there. Yeah, it was under the nose, so I couldn't see it before. Great view of it. Wow. Oh my gosh, that's where we're going to land. There's a PC-12 on ground. Is there? Wow. Yeah, on every airport there should be PILATUS aircrafts on ground. Yeah, somewhere here. And in flight. Look at that. That's where we're going to be landing, guys. Unbelievable. This is amazing. You can keep wings level. We're almost 1,000 to go for 5,000 feet. Yeah. Flaps at 1-5-0. Two speed brakes. We do not need any more. These people that live up here in the hillside room. Yeah. Probably like, wow, a jet just flew by our house. Look at that off the right wing. Nobody's home. Oh, it looks good. This is amazing. Now you can turn 180 to the left. 180 to the left, clear to the left. This is a pretty technical approach. Yeah. You want me to level out at 5,000? Yes. Level off at 5,000. Roger. 200 feet to go. Now we join the downwind. There's 5,000 feet. Leveling off. We're going to join a right downwind. And you go to the right side of the runway. Left downwind. Left downwind, yes. There we go, 5,000 feet. Just trying to keep an eye on the runway. Yeah. Right under the nose on my side. At sight though. There we go. Ease it to the left. Okay. After this woody area, I will take over the engine. Roger. And over the gear. Gear selected down. And my controls. Gear controls. I'm just going to do our one last turn to the left and then they'll line us right up for 26. And you're going to demonstrate how fast this thing can stop, correct? Yes. This is basically like a takeoff. I will not do a soft landing. I will do a carrier landing and full braking. Sounds good. Looks like a ski hill right here. Yeah. Wow, look at that. So, gear down. Flaps land. Airbrakes in. CPCS is checked. And the yaw damper is off. I have to turn in. And to descend. Otherwise we are too high. Yep. Marvelous, eh? Unbelievable. Yep. Setting up for a left base here. There we go. We're basically on a left base now for 22 seconds. I keep straight. Still descending. I switch off the ACE thrust. Roger. Runway in sight? Yep, runway in sight. A lot of farmers. A lot of people have cattle. Alright, they're announcing for us. I'll let everybody know. You see how low you have to fly over the terrain? Yes. Because the terrain here is higher. Yep. You have to be close, otherwise you have a too steep angle. Go back with the speed because the PC24 is a glider. I have to be on speed. A little bit back with the power. Good, good angle. Looks good. Speed looks good. Displace threshold. And idle power. And threshold. And full brake. Nice. Antiskid, you feel? Yeah. Okay. About 350 meters. Wow. What an amazing flight. Taxiway Charlie and following the marshaller for parking. 504. Hey, we made it. Wow. Safe on ground. That was one of the most amazing flights I've ever been on. Guys, if you liked that video, hit that thumbs up button. Subscribe to the channel. Leave a comment. Tell me what your favorite part of that flight was. I mean, I don't know if I can even pick one. Anyway, we're following our marshaller in here. Hope you guys are doing good wherever you're watching from. And we'll talk again someday soon. The PC-12 on the left. Shutdown. Parking brake is set. Cabin. Depressurized. IPS is on auto. And I switch off the engine. You can switch it off, take it out, and then go to the off position. Juliette, what did you think? Simply. Same here. Glad you enjoyed it. We'll be the passenger. We'll ride through the city tonight. See the city's rift inside. We'll see the bright and hollow sky. We'll see the stars that shine so bright. The sky was made for us tonight. Oh, the passenger. How he rides. The passenger. He rides and he rides. He looks through his window. And he sees. He sees the city's rift inside. He sees the winding ocean rise. And everything was made for you and me. And it just belongs to you and me. So let's take a ride and see what's mine.