Pilatus PC-6 Porter

what is it?

The Pilatus PC-6 Porter is a single-engined STOL utility aircraft designed by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland. First flown in 1959, the PC-6 was produced at Pilatus Flugzeugwerke in Stans, Switzerland. It has been built in both piston engine- and turboprop-powered versions, and was produced under license for a time by Fairchild Hiller in the United States.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 turboprop · tail-wheel gear · 15.9 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 232 km/htop speed
• range 730 kmwithout refuelling
• size 2,800 kgmax take-off weight
• built 595made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 67 years ago, in 1959.
• 🏎️Top speed is 1.8× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 15.9 m: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.

turboprop: A jet-style turbine turning a propeller: efficient on short hops.

spec sheet

first flight

1959-05-04

status

still flying

number built

595

role

stol passenger and utility aircraft

origin

🇨🇭 Switzerland

makers

Pilatus Aircraft

engines

1× Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-27

crew

1

length

11 m

wingspan

15.9 m

height

3.2 m

max take-off weight

2,800 kg

top speed

232 km/h

cruise speed

213 km/h

range

730 km

ceiling

8,197 m

wings

monoplane

landing gear

tail-wheel gear

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.

family