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Aviation History
2001
2001 - 2562.PDF
io I iii no IDGING We exclusively preview Pilatus' PC-21, a turboprop aimed at displacing jet trainers DEEDEE DOKE / LONDON Swiss aircraft manufacturer Pilatus wants to bridge what it sees as a gap in military pilot training with its new "top secret" turbo prop trainer, the PC-21. The new aircraft - which could be offer ed by candidates in the UK's £15 billion ($21.2 billion) Military Flying Training System (MFTS) privatisation competition - is being designed to take new pilots from basic flight skills into arenas now served only by jet trainers such as the BAE Systems Hawk and Northrop Grumman T-38 Talon. "We wondered just how far you could stretch a turboprop into that market," says Kevin Smith, Pilatus' managing director for strategic projects and a former Royal Air Force fast-jet pilot. "Our assessment of the market is telling us that the requirements for manipulative skills in pilot training are diminishing because the front-line aircraft are becoming increasingly simple to fly, but the requirement for management skills is increasing massively. When you make that sort of assessment, you ask yourself, what does speed matter?" The answer, Smith says, is "it does mat ter, but in a much more limited part of the flying training envelope". Already a major presence in the trainer field with its PC-7, PC 7 Mkll and PC-9 turboprops, Pilatus was ready to move on to a new technical level to create what Smith says is "an absolutely clean sheet of paper" aircraft. Once completed, the PC-21 will boast innovations suitable for prepar ing new pilots for future fighter aircraft that are under development. Among the innovations are: • A sophisticated avionics suite that can match the aircraft's training capability with the skills required for specific front line fighters; • a canopy, propeller and airframe capa ble of surviving bird strikes that would prove catastrophic to today's trainers; • the capability to fly a navigation exer cise at 300kt (555km/h) instead of the usual turboprop speeds of 210-240kt; • higher wing loadings that will give turn rates more representative of jet training. A proof-of-concept aircraft was built from a modified Pilatus PC-7 Mkll, with a large engine and shortened wings. Aerodynamic devices were added to the wing to allow high roll rates and provide more jet-like handling. The success of the experimental aircraft, which flew in May (Flight International, 26 June - 2 July) convinced Pilatus it was on the right track to a newly defined market niche. "We found that the turboprop could be stretched right the way through to take roughly 60-70% of the traditional jet train ing syllabus," Smith says. "We decided to combine the efficiencies of a turboprop with very sophisticated avionics in an air craft that exceeds the current range of jet trainers in terms of its ability to train a International is the official publication of this year's Royal International Symposium, at which the UK's MFTS will be a key discussion topic. It is being held on 26 July in www.airtattoo "We decided to combine the efficiencies of a turboprop with very sophisticated avionics in an aircraft that exceeds the current range of jet trainers'' KEVIN SMITH, PILATUS MANAGING DIRECTOR FOR STRATEGIC PROJECTS pilot as a manager. So we're sitting in a seg ment which is very different to that of the normal flying training aircraft market." Assembly of the first PC-21 prototype began during the last few months under the heavy secrecy that has so far shrouded the project. The wing structure and rear fuselage are just about completed. The structure is frozen, Smith says, adding that the aircraft has undergone wind- and spin- tunnel tests. Pilatus is now at the stage of integrating systems into the aircraft. The long-term nature of the ultimate MFTS contract, which industry expects to run for 25 years with a five-year option, dictates an extraordinarily deliberate pace to turn out and show off a product worthy of the job. Under a private finance initia tive (PFI) such as MFTS, the contractor bears all risk and responsibility for students receiving the required flying training hours. This involves not only the produc tion and supply of the aircraft, but also spares support and service provision. "To do that, we're going to make sure the aircraft is as reliable as we can possibly get it. That means we're going to spend more money during the development phase, and more time putting reliability and maintainability into the aircraft than we would do normally," Smith says. No rush "We're in no hurry to roll out a prototype, and we don't want to be quick to market now because we know the market is actually a 30-year service provision. If the aircraft is unreliable, it is going to cost us a lot of money over its life. So we're spending more money and more time on making sure this thing is not going to break in service." The PC-2Ts Hartzell propeller has five scimitar-shaped blades made of carbon- fibre/titanium, the third material Pilatus tested. The first, aluminium, led to prob lems with shaft bending, "causing us a reduction of life on the engine. Then we went to carbonfibre, which was great, but the stress profiles were unpredictable; it was difficult to test to see whether they would hold up or not," Smith continues. The new avionics suite incorporates a mission computer developed by Comput ing Devices and software from Ultra Electronics' Datel Defence. The suite is a source of particular pride to Pilatus. "We have an incredibly powerful avionics sys tem, which is based on open architecture computers," Smith says. The PC-21 software can be altered and installed "very quickly to match the train ing capability of the aircraft with the skill requirement for the front line". Since the student pilots will not know, at that point, what specific aircraft they will move on to, 40 10-16 JULY 2001 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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