PC-12
Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Flight Instructor; Flight Crew Commercial
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 60; Flight Crew Total 1600; Flight Crew Type 700
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe
Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport; Flight Crew Landed in Emergency Condition
Aircraft
Initial climbout; given instruction left turn northeast. Pilot flying (SIC) observed difficulty in roll and pitch axis. Pilot Monitoring (PIC) made positive control exchange and verified the aircraft; hand-flown felt very heavy in the roll control and decided to return to airport of origin. At this point ATC noticed the deviation and queried the crew. PIC decided to [advise ATC of the issue] due to difficulty in maintaining aircraft control and wanted freedom to deviate as necessary to mitigate the situation. Aircraft landed no flap without incident.
Reporter stated he took control from the copilot and verified flight controls felt heavy in roll after takeoff and decided to return to the departure airport. Reporter stated autopilot had been deferred with circuit breaker pulled and collared. Reported stated post flight maintenance inspection could not duplicate the gripe; but mechanic hypothesized they might have had an autopilot clutch servo grab. Reporter stated he flew the aircraft later and the flight controls felt normal.
[Report narrative contained no additional information.]
PC-12 flight crew reported stiff roll control on takeoff and returned to the departure airport.