Pilatus Aircraft

Pilatus Aircraft

Industry	Aerospace
Founded	1939
Headquarters	Stans, Switzerland
Products	Fixed wing aircraft
Employees	1441
Website	www.pilatus-aircraft.com

Pilatus Aircraft Ltd. is an aircraft manufacturer located in Stans, Switzerland. The company employs 1,441 people.^[1]

History

The PC-6 Porter was Pilatus' first aircraft to achieve widespread international success.

The company was established on 16 December 1939, and construction of a new production building started in March 1940. The first work for the new company was assembly of EKW C-35 reconnaissance biplanes from spare parts, and overhaul work on other types.^[2]

The first design project was a single-seat trainer, designated the P-1, although it was abandoned before being built.^[2] The next project was the construction of the SB-2 Pelican which had been designed by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.^[2] The SB-2 first flew on 30 May 1944 only one of the five-seat light transports were built.^[2]

In 1942, the company won a contract from the Swiss military to modify 33 EKW C-3603.^[2] Following on from the abandoned P-1 design, the company started again on the development of a two-seat trainer, designated the P-2.^[2] The P-2 first flew on 27 April 1945, and the company won an order for the Swiss Air Force.^[2]

During 1945 the company produced a prototype single-engined light transport, designated the P-4, the P-4 first flew on 22 March 1948 but only one was built.^[2] During the late 1940s the company produced a number of wooden glider designs and went on to produce fuselages and tail-booms for the licence-produced De Havilland Vampire and Venom.^[2]

In 1951 the company worked on the P-5, a design project for an artillery observation aircraft, it was not built.^[2] With production of the P-3 for the Swiss Air Force in progress the company achieved its first export order for six P-3s for the Brazilian Navy.^[2]

In 1958 design work started on a short takeoff and landing (STOL) light civil transport aircraft, this emerged as the PC-6 Porter which first flew on 4 May 1959.^[2] In 1965 a twin-engined variant of the PC-6 was built as the PC-8 Twin Porter, although it first flew on 15 November 1967 it remained an experimental and one-off type, and development was stopped in 1972.^[2] Another project for the PC-10 16-passenger twin-engined transport was started but was not built.^[2]

In a departure from the production of trainers and Porters the company bought the rights to the all-metal B-4 glider, Pilatus re-designed the B-4 for easier production and redesignated at the B-4/PC-11.^[2] The PC-11 first flew on 5 May 1972 and the company went on to built 322.^{[citation needed]}

In 1966 a turboprop-powered variant of the P-3 was flown, and was designated the PC-7.^[2] The aircraft crashed and development was put on hold until the 1970s.^[2] In 1975 a further prototype was flown, and after further development it was marketed as the PC-7 Turbo Trainer.^[2]

In 1979, Pilatus acquired Britten-Norman, constructor of the Britten-Norman Islander and Britten-Norman Defender aircraft.^[2]

In 1982 development of an improved variant of the PC-7 was started, it emerged as the Pilatus PC-9 in 1984.^[2] Development of what was to become the companies best selling type the Pilatus PC-12 was started in 1987, a single-engined turboprop transport that could carry up to twelve passengers or freight.^[2] The prototype PC-12 was flown on 31 May 1991.^[2]

The first PC-12 Eagle surveillance aircraft was built in 1995, further developments led to the PC-12 Spectre, and in recent years adoption of the PC-12 by the USAF as the U-28A.

TSA Transairco SA of Geneva was procured by Pilatus in 1997. In 1998, Pilatus Australia Pty Ltd was established, while Britten-Norman was sold.^{[citation needed]}

To further the family of military training aircraft, the turboprop PC-21 was developed and first flown in 2002.^[2]

In December 2000, the owners Unaxis (previously called Oerlikon-Bührle) sold Pilatus to a consortium of Swiss investors. In July 2010 the company delivered its 1000 PC-12.^[2]

In 2013, Pilatus created Pilatus Aircraft Industry (China) Co., Ltd to build PC-6 and PC-12 aircraft in Chongqing in a joint partnership with Beijing Tian Xing Jian Yu Science Co., Ltd.^[3]

Aircraft

The PC-12

• Pilatus SB-2 Pelican
• Pilatus P-1 - 1941 project for a single-seat trainer, not built.
• Pilatus P-2 - 1942
• Pilatus P-3 - 1953
• Pilatus P-4 - 1948
• Pilatus P-5 - proposed artillery observation aircraft, not built.
• Pilatus PC-6 Porter - 1959
• Pilatus PC-7 - 1966
• Pilatus PC-8D Twin Porter - 1967 twin-engined variant of the PC-6, prototype only
• Pilatus PC-9 - 1984
• Pilatus PC-10 - 1970 twin-engined transport project, not built.
• Pilatus PC-11/Pilatus B-4 - 1972
• Pilatus PC-12 - 1991
• Pilatus PC-21 - 2001
• Pilatus PC-24 - Proposed twin-engined jet.^[4]

Locations

Pilatus Aircraft has its headquarters, along with a production plant, on the Buochs Airport in the Swiss canton of Nidwalden. The headquarters and plant are in the municipality of Stans.

The company's wartime founding called for a location far from Switzerland's borders and right up against a ridge of Mount Pilatus. Original plans actually called for the factory to be built inside the mountain.^[5]

Besides its day to day role as an aircraft factory, the Stans plant is perhaps best known for its use as a location for the film Goldfinger, and particularly the exterior shots where James Bond crashes his DB5 and is captured.^[6][7]

Besides its Stans plant, the Pilatus group has plants at Adelaide in South Australia, Altenrhein in the Swiss canton of St. Gallen, and Broomfield in Colorado.^[6]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pilatus Aircraft.

• Company Website

Coordinates: 46°58′32.61″N 8°22′52.74″E / 46.9757250°N 8.3813167°E / 46.9757250; 8.3813167