Pilatus Switserland
Pilatus PC-12 Trainer
Switserland Aircraft
Pilatus PC-21 Trainer
Pilatus Aircraft
Pilatus PC-2 – Pilatus PC-3 – Pilatus PC-6
Pilatus PC-7 – Pilatus PC-9 – Pilatus PC-12
Pilatus PC-21 – Pilatus PC-24
Pilatus PC-2 – Pilatus PC-3 – Pilatus PC-6
Pilatus PC-7 – Pilatus PC-9 – Pilatus PC-12
Pilatus PC-21 – Pilatus PC-24
Pilatus
The Pilatus PC-21 is a turboprop-powered advanced trainer with a stepped tandem cockpit. It is manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland.
In November 1997, Pilatus flew a modified PC-7 Mk.II in order to test improvements for a prospective next generation turboprop trainer. As a result of these tests, Pilatus elected to fund the development of a new training system in November 1998; development of the new trainer, designated as the PC-21, formally started in January 1999.[2] The PC-21 would be developed and certified as a completely new training system, aimed at meeting future military customers’ specifications in terms of capability and life-cycle costs for the next three decades.
Design
The Pilatus PC-21 is an advanced single-engine trainer aircraft; it is often referred to by Pilatus as being the “Twenty-first Century Trainer”.[3][4] The type can be applied for various training capacities, including basic flying training, advanced flight training, full mission management training, and embedded simulation/emulation. In order to perform these functions, the aircraft possesses a powerful, flexible, and cost-effective integrated training system; providing sufficient ease of use for inexperienced pilots while posing greater challenge to advanced pilots.[8] According to Pilatus, upon product launch, the PC-21 possessed “superior aerodynamic performance when compared with any other turboprop trainer on the market”
| Role | Advanced trainer aircraft |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Pilatus Aircraft |
| Designer | Pilatus Aircraft |
| First flight | 1 July 2002 |
| Introduction | April 2008 |
| Status | Active service |
| Primary users | Swiss Air Force Republic of Singapore Air Force Royal Australian Air Force Royal Saudi Air Force |
| Produced | 2002–present |
| Number built | 211 |
Operators
- Royal Australian Air Force: 49 ordered September 2015, all 49 delivered as of November 2019.[48][49]
- French Air and Space Force (Armée de l’air et de l’espace): seventeen ordered January 2017[50] final deliveries in August 2019.
- Royal Jordanian Air Force: 12 delivered as of August 2019.[51]
- Qatar Emiri Air Force: 24 ordered July 2012, first delivery in 2014.[52]
- Royal Saudi Air Force: 55 ordered May 2012, first delivery in 2014.[35]
- Republic of Singapore Air Force: launch customer; operates nineteen in Australia on Basic Wings Course (BWC) as part of a contract for availability, together with Lockheed Martin and Hawker Pacific.
- Spanish Air Force: 24 ordered in November 2019, first delivery in 2020.[53]
- Swiss Air Force: operates eight for advanced training, replacing the BAe Hawk which had been retired in 2003.
- United Arab Emirates Air Force: operates 25 for advanced training, first flight made on 22 November 2010.
- Qinetiq, on behalf of the Empire Test Pilot School at Boscombe Down operates two aircraft for advanced training.[2]
General characteristics
- Crew: 2
- Length: 11.233 m (36 ft 10 in)
- Wingspan: 9.108 m (29 ft 11 in)
- Height: 3.74 m (12 ft 3 in)
- Wing area: 15.221 m2 (163.84 sq ft)
- Empty weight: 2,270 kg (5,004 lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 3,100 kg (6,834 lb) aerobatic
- 4,250 kg (9,370 lb) normal
- Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-68B turboprop engine, 1,200 kW (1,600 hp)
- Propellers: 5-bladed constant-speed propeller
Performance
Performance
- Maximum speed: 685 km/h (426 mph, 370 kn)
- Stall speed: 170 km/h (110 mph, 92 kn) gear and flaps up (20 km/h (12 mph; 11 kn) less with flaps and gear down)
- Range: 1,333 km (828 mi, 720 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 11,580 m (37,990 ft)
- g limits: +8.0 –4.0 aerobatic / +5.0 to –2.5 utility
- Rate of climb: 20.317 m/s (3,999.4 ft/min)
- Wing loading: 208 kg/m2 (43 lb/sq ft)
- Power/mass: 0.39 kW/kg (0.24 hp/lb)
Related
Armament
Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
Hardpoints: Provisions provided for 4× under-wing and 1× centerline external store stations, capable of mounting up to 1,150 kg (2,540 lb) of payload
Aircrafttoaal encyclopedia
The company has mostly produced aircraft for niche markets, in particular short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft as well as military training aircraft. During the 1950s and 1960s, Pilatus developed on a short takeoff and landing (STOL) light civil transport aircraft, the PC-6 Porter. During 1973, it was decided to restart work on the PC-7 programme; it entered production as the PC-7 Turbo Trainer. In 1979, Pilatus acquired Britten-Norman, constructor of the Britten-Norman Islander and Britten-Norman Defender aircraft. During the 1980s, it developed the PC-9, an improved derivative of the PC-7.