Pilatus PC-9
| Pilatus PC-9 | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Type: | Trainer aircraft |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
May 7, 1984 |
| Commissioning: |
September 1985 |
| Production time: |
since 1984 |
| Number of pieces: |
605 |
The Pilatus PC-9 is a two-seat trainer aircraft with a turboprop engine from Pilatus in Switzerland .
history
Development of the advanced trainer began in May 1982. The first prototype of the PC-9 took off on its maiden flight on May 7, 1984 and was approved in September 1985. Although the machine lost the tender for a new training aircraft of the Royal Air Force against the Brazilian Embraer EMB 312 Tucano this year , it was able to win a number of customers over the next few years. Larger orders were placed from Australia , Saudi Arabia and Thailand . In addition to its traditional role as a training aircraft , the PC-9 also proved to be suitable for other purposes. For example, the Swiss Air Force procured a dozen of these machines for targeting and other special tasks. In Germany, the PC-9 is used, among other things, by the company EIS Aircraft GmbH from Kiel-Holtenau for the training of flight control officers for the German Air Force's operations management service.
Together with Hawker Beechcraft (at that time still Raytheon Aircraft Company ), Pilatus developed a structurally reinforced version of the PC-9 equipped with more modern systems. This machine, known as the Beechcraft T-6 , won the US Air Force tender for a new trainer aircraft .
construction
It looks like its predecessor, the Pilatus PC-7 , but is a new design. Only 10 percent of the components were taken over from the PC-7. Among other things, the PC-9 has a more powerful turbine , a more modern cockpit with several multifunction displays and a head-up display, as well as an air brake between the landing gears. To rescue the crew are two modern cockpit ejection seats Martin Baker Mk.CH11A installed.
Versions
- Pilatus used the knowledge gained from working with Raytheon and introduced the improved version PC-9M in 1997 .
- PC-9 / A: Version for Australia
- PC-9 / F: Version of the Swiss Air Force
- PC-9 / B: Execution as a target tow plane for the Bundeswehr
- PC-9 MkII: Original name for the Hawker-Beechcraft T-6A Texan II
- PC-9M: Version from 1997 with improvements to the vertical stabilizer, wings and the engine control
- PC-7 MkII M: Today's standard version with a modular body that can be used for both the PC-7 and PC-9
distribution
Military operator
- The Angolan Air Force has four machines that were delivered from 1987.
- The Australian Air Force has 67 machines - two were supplied directly by Pilatus, 17 were assembled from prefabricated components in Australia and 48 were manufactured entirely in Australia by Hawker de Havilland . Since 2017, the Australian PC-9s have been gradually replaced by the PC-21s .
- The Bulgarian Air Force has six machines, which were delivered from 2004.
- The Guatemalan Air Force has 14 PC-9Ms and more may be delivered.
- The Iraqi Air Force received 20 machines that were delivered from 1987.
- The Irish Air Force has eight PC-9Ms delivered as of 2004. In 2005 the aircraft were upgraded with two rocket launcher and two machine gun nacelles.
- The Croatian Air Force has 20 machines - 17 PC-9M, which were newly manufactured from 1997, as well as three second-hand machines .
- The Mexican Air Force has two PC-9Ms that were delivered in September 2006, with more deliveries may follow.
-
Myanmar (Burma)
- The Burmese Air Force has ten machines, which were delivered from April 1986.
- The Oman Air Force has twelve machines that were delivered between 1999 and March 2000.
- The Royal Saudi Air Force has 50 machines that were delivered from December 1986. This deal was done through British Aerospace .
- The Swiss Air Force had 14 machines that were delivered from 1987. Two of them (Reg. A-795 and A-797) were returned to Pilatus after the evaluation. Loss of a PC-9 (C-404) after a collision with another PC-9, several were decommissioned. Six still active today (C-405 to C-408 target tugs with RM-24, C-409 to C-412 Vista 5 ECM), the Air Force wants four of them (C-407, C-408, C-411 and C- 412) until 2025.
- The Slovenian Air Force has eleven PC-9M Hudournik (Swift) aircraft. Three machines were delivered in 1995 (one of which was destroyed in an accident in 2004), nine machines were delivered from November 1998. These planes were later upgraded in Israel .
- The Royal Thai Air Force has 23 machines that are in service at the 2nd Flying Training School. Between 1991 and 1996 the Royal Thai Air Force purchased 36 machines as a trainer. Another machine is stored in Stans for reasons that are not clear. Four of these crashed and 23 machines that are still in operation today have been modernized to the PC-9M standard.
- The Chad Air Force has a machine that was delivered in 2006. The machine was most likely upgraded for the use of cluster bombs on behalf of the Chadian government.
- The Cypriot National Guard has two machines that were delivered after 1989. One machine was destroyed in an accident on September 10, 2005.
Civil operator
- EIS Aircraft GmbH has ten machines that are used as target tow planes for both the German Air Force and NATO partners. They also serve to train the forward air controllers (FAC / JTAC) of the air force and the army, they are equipped with military avionics and target display means for both purposes. In the early 1990s, they replaced the OV-10 Bronco , which was still operated by the German Air Force itself. The PC-9 have civil license plates.
- On September 27, 2012, a machine of this type crashed near Gnoien in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania while targeting due to a bird strike by an osprey.
-
United Kingdom
- BAE Systems has two development aircraft in connection with a Saudi Air Force deal flying with British military markings.
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| crew | 1 + 1 |
| length | 10.17 m |
| span | 10.12 m |
| height | 3.26 m |
| Wing area | 16.29 m² |
| Empty mass | 1,685 kg |
| Takeoff mass | 3,200 kg (max. 530 l fuel) |
| Cruising speed | 556 km / h at 6,100 m or 500 km / h at sea level |
| Top speed | 593 km / h at 6,100 m |
| Stall speed | 128 km / h |
| Max. Rate of climb | 20.7 m / s |
| Take-off run | 242 m |
| Landing runway | 350 m |
| Load factor | + 7 / −3.5 g |
| Service ceiling | 11,580 m |
| Range | 1,642 km |
| Engines | a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-62 propeller turbine with 950 WPS (709 kW, 857 kW takeoff power) |
| propeller | Hartzell four-blade with a diameter of 2.44 m |
External loads
Armament up to 1,044 kg at six external load stations
Unguided air-to-surface missiles
- 4 × FN Herstal LAU-7A rocket tube launch container for 7 × unguided Hydra air-to-surface missiles ; Caliber 70 mm
- 4 × rocket tube launch container TBA 68-7 for 7 × unguided air-to-ground missiles SNEB ; Caliber 68 mm
- 4 × rocket tube launch container TBA Telson 12JF- each for 12 × unguided air-to-ground missiles SNEB; Caliber 68 mm
- 4 × Matra F2 rocket tube launch container for 6 × unguided air-to-ground missiles SNEB; Caliber 68 mm
Free fall bombs
- 4 × Mark 82 LDGP (241 kg free fall bomb )
External container
- 1 × Ericsson Saab Avionics ALQ-503 (EriJammer A100 "Vista-5") - electronic jammer
- 4 × FN Herstal ETNA-TMP-5 machine gun containers each with 2 × 7.62 mm machine guns FN MAG 58P with 500 rounds of ammunition each
- 4 × FN Herstal HMP-250-LCC machine gun container with 1 × 12.7 mm FN-M3P machine gun each with 250 rounds of ammunition
- 2 × disposable additional fuel tanks for 248 liters of kerosene each
- 2 × drop-off additional tanks for 145 liters of kerosene each
- 1 × Saab Erijammer A100 (ALQ-503 or Vista-5) EKF container ( jammer )
- 1 × MBV-25 towing winch for tow bag
See also
- comparable advanced trainers
- Hawker-Beechcraft T-6 "Texan II"
- Pilatus PC-7
- AIDC T-CH-1 "Chung-Shing"
- Embraer EMB-312 Tucano
- Embraer EMB-314 "Super Tucano"
- KAI KT-1 "Ungbi"
- Socata TB 30 "Epsilon"
- PZL Warszawa PZL-130 "Orlik"
- Aerobatic teams
literature
- William Green: The planes of the world. Werner Classen Verlag, Zurich and Stuttgart 1989.
Web links
- List of all Pilatus PC-9B from EIS Aircraft GmbH
- http://www.pilatus-aircraft.com - official manufacturer website
Individual evidence
- ↑ Australia welcomes first six PC-21s to East Sale
- ↑ C-404 Report
- ↑ Skynews No. 4, April 2016, pp. 4-7
- ↑ Federal Office for Aircraft Accident Investigation (Ed.): Bulletin BFU September 2012 with interim report from page 83 on: www.bfu-web.de
- ↑ Planes of the World (1989)
- ↑ http://articles.janes.com/articles/Janes-Electronic-Mission-Aircraft/JAMMER-A100-Sweden.html
