Western Aircraft is now stocking flight controls for Pilatus PC-12 legacy and nextgen airframes. Western's parts distribution stocks thousands of parts, including FAA-approved line items, rotable components, modification kits and now flight controls. Additionally, it has added elevators, rudders, ailerons and flaps for Pilatus PC-12 aircraft complete with 8130s.

“We're thrilled to offer our PC-12 customers more complete, personal service by way of flight control inventory,” says director of aircraft services Jody Harris. “Stocking these parts on site means we have more time for our valued MRO customers and enables a much shorter downtime for their aircraft.”

Western Aircraft offers structure and composite repair services at its facility in Boise, Idaho as well as repair and restoration on aircraft flight control surfaces to OEM specifications.

Flight controls on a Pilatus PC-12 are cable driven and different from other aircraft in that, due to the smaller aileron size, the PC-12 doesn't use spoilers for roll control. Servo tabs on the ailerons work together with pitch and rudder forces as well as the flaps to complete the flight control parts list. Repairs on flight controls are performed as needed as well as during regularly scheduled maintenance. Modifications are not performed unless they're part of a service bulletin or STC.

Western's over-the-counter parts branch has expanded its hours of operation to include a swing shift in order to better serve its growing body of domestic and international customers.

“Our international and west coast business has developed significantly over the past three years; we wanted to make sure our global customers' needs are not only met but exceeded,” says director of parts and logistics Walt Johns. “Implementing a swing shift helps ensure they don't have to wait for exceptional service from our team.”

The swing shift hours of operation run Monday-Friday from 1500 to 0000, and will assist the sales team in receiving phone calls, processing emails, researching parts data, providing quotes and closing sales.

Western has also announced that in addition to being the largest Pilatus dealer in the world and applying more than 145,000 work hours to PC-12 maintenance in the last five years, it has now extended its expertise as the industry leader in heavy maintenance on the Pilatus PC-24 aircraft. The company has completed 20 per cent of all PC-24 big aircraft modifications (BAMs) worldwide and five 12-month inspections on PC-24s. Additionally, Western Aircraft is a full-service avionics modification centre and is currently installing the first-ever Gogo Avance L5 in-flight connectivity system in a Pilatus PC-24.

“The amount of maintenance we perform on PC-24 aircraft directly correlates with our passion for the work,” comments director of MRO sales and marketing for Western Aircraft Kerry Heiss. “Our goal is to exceed the expectations of our PC-24 customers, and that means properly preparing our technicians for this precise scope of work.”

Heiss adds that Western Aircraft currently has four factory-trained PC-24 technicians, and the team regularly supports AOG events for PC-24 aircraft with 24/7 availability. Additionally, its charter fleet manager is completing his PC-24 training and two more technicians are scheduled to attend training in the next 12 months.