Pilatus Delivers Military Trainer One Year After Signing The Contract

The initial flight of the first Pilatus PC-21 for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Air Force & Air Defence took place Monday, one year to the day after the contract was signed.

Pilatus PC-21

Prior to first flight, the aircraft was rolled out and presented to the UAE Air Force & Air Defence by Oscar Schwenk, Chairman & CEO of Pilatus Aircraft Limited, in a ceremony attended by members of the Pilatus executive management and project teams from both parties.

After the roll-out, the aircraft's first flight was a ferry flight to the Buochs airfield. Pilatus' chief test pilot departed at 1034 local time on a flight which served as the final check for quality control and conformity. After engine checks on the runway, aircraft was taken to 10,000 feet, where an engine shut down and restart sequence is performed to prove the functionality of the engine related systems. Next, various mechanical systems are checked, including flight controls systems, airframe stall characteristics, engine performance and inverted flight. Finally the landing gear functionality was tested, the data was examined, and the aircraft prepped for the remaining production flight test.

Pilatus PC-21 Cockpit

A post flight debriefing was undertaken with the UAE Air Force & Air Defence, represented by Brigadier General Sami Saeed Al Nuaimi, and this formally closes this element of the project.

Delivery of the 25 PC-21 aircraft and the other key components of the Pilatus training system are scheduled to commence in the first quarter
2011.

FMI: www.pilatus.com