Australian Flying — November-December 2017

cruising (long range cruise speed
is 436 kt) , with leading edge
slats and f laps helping keep its
behaviour civil at approach speeds.
The undercarriage retracts in to
the fuselage to help provide the
wing’s slim 11% thickness to chord
ratio. The aircraft’s rear fuselage is
area-ruled to reduce drag.
Syberjet makes much of the
SJ30’s Los Angeles to New York
range (it would f ly Sydney to
Perth nonstop) and ability to
sit up in the 400 f light levels
above most commercial traffic
and weather. The company also
claims the SJ30 is up to 25% more
fuel efficient than other high
performance jets. The aircraft has
three world records for speed and
distance and is certified to the US
FAR Part 23 Commuter category.
SyberJet’s engineering team has
generated 3D models of the entire
aircraft, including structural.
mechanical, pneumatic, fuel,
hydraulic, and electrical systems,
and uses a 3D design package
to both design wiring harnesses
and then route them through the

aircraft for form and fit.

Harness installations have

already begun on the f light test

aircraft (N50SJ) which is slated to

f ly later this year.

Pilatus calls time

on PC-6 Porter

Swiss manufacturer Pilatus has

announced it will cease production

of its PC-6 Porter turbine utility

aircraft in 2019, after a production

run of nearly 600 units across 60

years since 1959.

The PC-6 delivered an

international breakthrough for

Pilatus: its short takeoff and

landing capabilities and general

versatility earned it worldwide

fame and a reputation as a robust

“all-rounder”. Amongst its many

achievements, the Pilatus Porter

has f lown several cargo and

passenger trips at maximum

useful load to an altitude of 5700

metres above sea level, a world

record that has not been bettered.

First f lown in May 1959, the

first PC-6 was powered by a

SYBERJET

australianflying.com.au 67

November – December 2017 AUSTRALIAN FLYING

340 hp piston engine. But it was

the mating of the Turbomeca

Astazou II turbine engine in 1961

that created the Turbo Porter

and brought the aircraft to its

full potential. Two more engines

followed: Astazou reliability

was troublesome, which led

some operators to substitute the

Garrett Air Research TPE331.

Air America, the US covert force

operating during the Vietnam

War operated PC-6s built under

licence by Fairchild. Finding the

Astazous prone to catastrophic

hot starts in the Asian climate

Air America converted its PC-

6s to TPE331 power, creating

an aircraft that could land in

three aircraft lengths, around

100 feet at sea level, and take off

in little more. Air America also

appreciated the PC-6 for the fact

that damaged units could be tied

to the side of an H-34 helicopter

for transport back to base.

In 1963 Pilatus mated one

of the new 550 shp Pratt and

Whitney PT6 turbine engines to

the Porter, with a constant speed

propeller with reverse pitch.

The aircraft has become legend

for its ability to carry load in to

hot and high destinations and

short airstrips, and one of the few

aircraft that can disgorge a fuselage

full of parachutists at altitude and

beat them back to terra firma (as a

short search of videos on YouTube

will attest). The Porter holds the

world record for a high altitude

landing by a fixed-wing aircraft,

at 18,865 feet (5,750 m), on the

Dhaulagiri glacier in Nepal.

In Australia the Porter is best

known for its service with the

Australian Army. Army took

delivery of the first of 19 Turbo

Porters in 1968, replacing Cessna

180s. Six Porters went to Vietnam

with No 161 Independent

Reconnaissance Flight, sadly with

A14-686 shot down near the

Australian Task Force at Nui Dat

in December 1969 with the loss

of all aboard.

The Porter was officially

retired from Australian military

service on 17 October 1992,

replaced by a new order of nine

Australian-designed Nomad

transports.

Pilatus is still building around

10 Turbo Porters a year, but with

the Stans factory ramping up for

volume production of its new PC-

24 business jet, the company has

decided to rationalise.

“I am proud that the PC-6

featured in the Pilatus product

portfolio, this aircraft has

earned us fame and recognition

worldwide,” said Pilatus board

chairman Oscar J. Schwenk. “But

the time has now come to take a

dispassionate look at the facts and

admit that every product has a life

cycle which must come to an end

sooner or later. That moment has

arrived for the PC-6.”

Pilatus will accept limited PC-6

orders until mid-2018 and existing

customers are guaranteed support

for at least the next 20 years.

The first “new” Syberjet

SJ30i may fly this year.

STRATOS AIRCRAFT The Stratoswill fly four people 1500nm at 400 knots.