Recent content by darkesleuth

Rapid City to Pullman should be about 2 hr 45 min flight time, plus however long they're on the ground at Rapid City.

A direct course for Moscow would be pic 1 (named 3), as compared to actual course in pic 2 below.

IMO they are currently enroute to Rapid City (KRAP). The 1st pic below shows the direct flight line from Champaign to Rapid City, as they pass over Sioux City. The 2nd pic shows their actual flight path. It doesn’t get much closer than that when using two brands of maps with a line over that...

Current track lines up with Rapid City, SD as next stop. They're flying just a bit south of course for a direct flight to either Pullman or Lewiston. Unfortunately, a stop would add another 45 minutes to an hour. All IMO.

Yes, all PC-12's have a bathroom, unless this plane was modified for PA and it was removed. The PC-12 potty is right behind the pilots, in front of the front row of seats, on the right side.

Yes, all PC-12's have a bathroom, unless this plane was modified for PA and it was removed.

I was using C441 speeds cause that's what I'm used to. I guess the PC-12 is 30 kts slower. But the PC-12 has 1,850nm range or almost 7 hrs. I know people who fly them that far routinely. This current flight is 1,315nm direct, or almost 5 hrs with no winds. Take into account the 30kt avg...

North Platte is a good stop, or Rapid City. They should have the range to make it non-stop, but may want to stretch their legs sooner. Should be about 5 hrs total flight time.

From an aviation standpoint, this route doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Maybe it was the low ceilings in Wisconsin? If he was on this aircraft that landed in Champaign, he's only 30% of the way there.

IMO that is an FAA 'flight check' aircraft (type BE300) which monitors aviation navigation and landing aids. Which means it's unrelated. Flight Check — Please Keep Your Distance!

Snow is not a problem to fly through at 24,000'. The weather they just came through is much worse, with a higher chance of icing, than anywhere else in the country today. https://aviationweather.gov/icing/fip

Well, they just went right through the worst weather in the country today.

It would take 8 hrs to make this trip in a PC-12 with one stop. A mid-size business jet could do it non-stop in 4 hrs.

IMO, I just can't imagine this is the correct flight. A Pilatus PC-12 is a poor choice of aircraft to fly 1,800nm westbound, when you have (nearly) unlimited resources to charter a jet. Furthermore, the closest route or great-circle distance as one would fly with GPS is a much more northern...

I don't believe that is the actual 8 of 8 page. The 8th page on your linked doc is also the 5th page on the 12 page doc attached below, both are missing 8 of 8. Her response to you makes it clear that page 8 of 8 wasn't released.