Pilatus PC-8D
| Pilatus PC-8D Twinporter | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Type: | Multipurpose aircraft |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
November 28, 1967 |
| Commissioning: |
never |
| Number of pieces: |
1 |
The Pilatus PC-8D Twinporter was a twin-engine aircraft from the manufacturer Pilatus Aircraft , which however never reached series production.
history
The increasing demand for a twin-engine, more powerful work aircraft prompted Pilatus Flugzeugwerke in 1965 to develop a twin-engine Porter version, the PC-8D.
development
In order to keep development costs low, as many components as possible were taken over from the single-engine PC-6 Porter, such as: B. the fuselage center section, the wings and the main landing gear. The front fuselage, the stern with the tail unit and the arrangement of the engines were newly developed. The cab was easily convertible for various tasks.
First drafts showed an engine arrangement to the right and left of the fuselage bow, similar to the Dornier Do 28 . A tandem arrangement of the engines above the hull, as in the earlier Dornier Wal flying boats, was also considered. In the final version, the engines in front of the wings were arranged very close to the fuselage and on a separate engine mount. There was no fixed connection between the engines and the wings, but a space like a slat. With this arrangement it was hoped to obtain favorable values for single-engine flight.
Flight testing and discontinuation of the project
Hans Galli carried out the first flight on November 28, 1967 with the prototype of the PC-8D with the registration HB-KOA. The results from the flight test, which lasted more than a year, were not satisfactory, so that the project was abandoned at the end of January 1969. The decisive factor was the inadequate single-engine power, which meant that FAR23 approval was not possible. The PC-8D Twinporter was also demonstrated at the international airshow in Paris. The only aircraft built was scrapped after the project was completed.
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| crew | ? |
| Passengers | ? |
| length | 10.50 m |
| span | 15.60 m planned (prototype 15.20 m) |
| height | 3.60 m |
| Wing area | 32.40 m² |
| payload | ? kg |
| Empty mass | 1550 kg |
| Max. Takeoff mass | 2700 kg |
| Cruising speed | 230 km / h |
| Top speed | 260 km / h |
| Minimum speed | 72 km / h |
| Climb performance | 6 m / s |
| Service ceiling | 5500 m |
| Range | 1100 km |
| Take-off run | 160 m |
| Landing runway | 130 m |
| Engines | two 6-cylinder piston engines Lycoming IO-540-GIB5 each with 290 PS (216 kW) |
PC-7
At the same time, Pilatus began developing the PC-7 training aircraft , which is powered by a turboprop engine. This opened up the possibility of converting existing Pilatus Porters with piston engines and building new Pilatus Porters with the turboprop engine with minimal changes to the airframe. This achieved the desired higher performance with lower operating and maintenance costs than with the twin-engine PC-8D. It was also considered to build a PC-8 with turboprop engines, but this remained only a project due to a lack of market demand.
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