Pilatus PC-9
| PC-9 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| A RAAF PC-9 of 2FTS | |
| Role | Basic/Advanced Trainer aircraft |
| National origin | Switzerland, Australia |
| Manufacturer | Pilatus Aircraft |
| First flight | 7 May 1984 |
| Status | Active service in production |
| Primary users |
Swiss Air Force Royal Australian Air Force Royal Saudi Air Force Royal Thai Air Force |
| Produced | 1984–present |
| Number built | 265 |
| Developed from | Pilatus PC-7 |
| Developed into | T-6 Texan II |
The Pilatus PC-9 is a single-engine, low-wing tandem-seat turboprop training aircraft manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland. Designed as a more powerful evolution of the Pilatus PC-7, the PC-9's first flight was made in May 1984 after which certification was achieved in September 1985. After this, the first production orders for the type were received from the Royal Saudi Air Force, with deliveries commencing in 1985. Since then, more than 250 airframes have been produced across five different variants and the type is employed by a number of military and civilian operators around the world, including the Swiss Air Force, the Royal Australian Air Force, and the Royal Thai Air Force.
The PC-9 is a more powerful evolution of the PC-7. It retains the overall layout of its predecessor, but it has very little structural commonality with it. Amongst other improvements, the PC-9 features a larger cockpit with stepped ejection seats and also has a ventral airbrake.
The PC-9 program officially started in 1982. Although some aerodynamic elements were tested on a PC-7 during 1982 and 1983, the first flight of the first PC-9 prototype took place on 7 May 1984. A second prototype flew on 20 July of the same year; this prototype had all the standard electronic flight instrumentation and environmental control systems installed and was thus almost fully representative of the production version.
Certification was achieved in September 1985. By this time, the PC-9 had lost the Royal Air Force trainer competition to the Short Tucano. However, the marketing links that Pilatus built up with British Aerospace during the competition led to their first order from Saudi Arabia.
As of 2004[update], more than 250 aircraft of this type have been built.
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